It was recently reported that 2 teenage brothers were killed when the motorcycle they were riding to school in Kluang, Johor, had hit a pothole. This led Works Minister, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, to issue a statement addressing the fatal accident while ordering immediate pothole repairs along the road in question.
However, it appears that the patchwork done to fix the potholes is not lasting.
According to a report by Harian Metro, a survey of the road done yesterday (Monday, March 24) afternoon showed workers redoing the patchwork done on Saturday (March 22), following the demise of the schoolboys on Friday (March 21).
This is allegedly due to the patchwork already appearing to sink in due to heavy vehicles using the road.
The boys’ father speaks up
The father of the 2 schoolboys, 53-year-old Kamaruzaman Omar, had used the road to head to work on Monday morning (March 24) and found that the pothole at the accident site was flooded with water despite the patchwork on Saturday (March 22).
“When road users pass through this route, sometimes they don’t notice the pothole because it is already filled with water. This morning, the hole was filled with water even though it was patched. I knew about the pothole after the tragedy that befell my sons, but other users may not know about it,”
“The concessionaire or those responsible may need to build a drainage or drain on the shoulder of this road because every time it rains, (the potholes) will be flooded with water and may further damage the road even though it has been patched or fixed,” he said.
A road user, 48-year-old Ismail Abu, also questioned the quality of the patchwork due to it getting damaged quickly.
“I’m not sure from a technical point of view, but the road here will be damaged and have potholes again after 2 to 3 days of patching and paving. Maybe we need to use other techniques because this road is often utilised by heavy vehicles almost every day because there are palm oil processing factories and sand factories here,”
“When the road is potholed and damaged, it is usually left idle for a week or 2 before it is repaired again. Hopefully, last Friday’s tragedy will open the eyes of all parties to ensure that road monitoring must be carried out constantly,” he shared.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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