PM Anwar announces additional RM30m to repair Gerik-Jeli highway

GERIK, Aug 24 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today announced an additional RM30 million to repair the East-West Highway, also known as the Gerik-Jeli highway.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, said that the federal government will also revise the allocation requested by the Works Ministry to upgrade the highway in the Budget 2024 tabling in October.

“Even though the allocation requested for the upgrading work for the highway is a lot, we will revise it in the next budget in October.

“But for today, I announce an additional RM30 million for the highway repair works,” he said in his speech at the launching of the Works Ministry’s MyJalan Campaign at the Pulau Banding jetty here.

Anwar said that he is aware of the hazardous conditions of the Gerik-Jeli highway as he had experienced it himself.

“Just a few weeks ago, I used the highway from Kota Baru, Kelantan heading to Penang at night.

“The road was pitch black with no lights and we even had to stop a few times to make way for the elephants to cross the road,” he said.

Earlier, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the federal government had initially approved an allocation of RM45.676 million to upgrade the highway in June.

“Of that amount, RM44.728 million is allocated for pavement periodic maintenance works while the remaining amount of RM948,000 is for non-pavement periodic maintenance works,” he said.

He added that the RM30 million allocation will enable his ministry to reconstruct certain rundown parts of the Gerik-Jeli highway.

Nanta previously said his ministry was under a cost constraint of RM80 million to RM100 million to carry out the reconstruction.

Today, Anwar also announced RM1,000 allocation for 87 former Public Works Department staff who were involved in the construction of the Gerik-Jeli Highway in 1974.

“This is to appreciate their contribution in constructing the road in the midst of a communist attack on May 21, 1974, which killed three of the Public Works Department staff,” he said.

Armed conflict between Malaysian security forces and the Communist Party of Malaya started just after World War Two and ended with the signing of the Hatyai Peace Accords in December 1989.