Fadillah (right) greeting Asfia upon his (Asfia) arrival at his residence for a Hari Raya visit yesterday. — Photo by Tan Song Wei
KUCHING: The Ministry of Works will carry out studies on the cause of accidents on federal roads to see if road design is to blame for rising statistics this year. Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said he had directed the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and Public Works Department (JKR) to monitor the situation and find out the root causes of road accidents in the country.
“I have been informed by police that road accident cases have continued to rise despite government initiatives through various agencies to bring down the number of fatal and serious accidents.
“As such, we want to carry out studies on whether certain factors such as road design or unsafe road conditions have contributed towards the accidents and we will take the necessary action together with government agencies to improve the roads,” he told reporters when met at his Hari Raya open house held at his residence in Semariang yesterday.
He also advised all road users to be more alert when on the road so as to prevent accidents befalling other motorists as well. Since Ops Selamat 7 officially started on July 10 in conjunction with Hari Raya, it has recorded an increase in fatalities and road accidents.
“Around 203 fatalities were recorded throughout the country on its ninth day whereas the number of road accidents have risen to 12,383 cases,” said Bukit Aman traffic chief SAC Datuk Mohd Fuad Abdul Latiff in a statement on Saturday.
According to him, 76 cases of the 203 fatalities occurred on federal roads while 56 cases were recorded on state roads.
“The highway recorded 26 cases whereas city roads and other roads recorded 23 and 22 cases respectively,” he said.
On another matter, Fadillah urged DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua to deny his involvement regarding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue and not to involve Barisan Nasional (BN) ministers.
He pointed out that Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had already challenged Pua to do so and therefore he (Pua) should respond to his challenge.
“There is no need for him (Pua) to skirt the issue brought up by (Datuk) Abdul Rahman. He should just respond to him and we will see the situation from there. He does not have to involve us because we are not even involved in meetings with anyone,” Fadillah remarked.
Pua recently challenged BN ministers to name him as the opposition politician who met former PetroSaudi International director Xavier Andrea Justo over 1MDB.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP posted on his Facebook page that he dared any BN minister to accuse him of meeting Justo and they should not beat around the bush.
Though Pua has not been openly named, it was suggested that Pua was one of the opposition members who had met with the Swiss national at a hotel in Singapore allegedly on the sale of documents related to 1MDB’s aborted joint venture with PetroSaudi International.
Meanwhile, Fadillah’s open house saw people from all walks of life paying him a visit on the third day of Hari Raya.
Among them were Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and his wife Datin Amar Juma’ani Tun Tuanku Bujang, State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Electricity and Telecommunications) Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, and Engkilili assemblyman Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa, who were welcomed by Fadillah and his wife Datin Seri Ruzia Tahir.