BY VINCENT TAN

Jalan Besar in Kampung Baru Balakong will be repaired to the tune of RM5.4mil by MPKj, thanks to the recent injection by Marris.

SEVENTEEN areas in Balakong will undergo road repairs, thanks to the RM55mil in funds allocated by the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) for the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj).

Work is ongoing in all 17 areas and some have even been completed. The rest are expected to be completed by January next year, according to Balakong assemblyman Eddie Ng.

The assemblyman, together with councillors So Liang Kiong and Pang Ai Lee, were at Balakong New Village to assess the newly resurfaced Jalan KB 1/3 leading to the Balakong Chinese primary school.

Ng said RM7.7mil out of the allocation had been channelled for the 17 areas in this second phase of road repairs for 2016.

“The council managed to save about 25% of the funds allocated after the tender process. In total, MPKj will be spending about RM5.43mil,” said Ng.

He said the remaining RM2.3mil would be kept for future road repairs.

However, he explained that some road repairs had been delayed recently due to the weather, where heavy rains complicated repairs by cooling the pre-mix used for road repairs.

“One such instance happened in Jalan Taming Kiri 4, where the rain damaged the work materials left there, and the council had ordered the contractors to clear away and restart the work,” he added.

Council officers would also be going around the newly repaired areas to ensure work was up to par by doing coring tests (taking a sample of earth, mineral or rock) and sending the cored samples to laboratories for verification.

“If the work is not up to par, the council will deduct payments based on a formula, and the contractor will be blacklisted throughout the whole state for a number of years,” he explained.

In reply to queries on why road markings were often painted late after a road had been repaired, So and Pang explained that the council’s engineers and the testing laboratories had to certify that the road was correctly repaired first.

“Usually it will take about two to three weeks, and maybe slightly longer now, as we have several roads to be certified,” said Ng.

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