Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof
KUCHING: The usage of grants under the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) to maintain federal roads is not in line with the constitution, says former works minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
As such, he ticked off Works Minister Baru Bian for making that suggestion explaining that the Marris grants are supposedly allocated to state governments for the maintenance of state roads.
He stressed that Baru should have referred to the constitution before coming up with such a suggestion, as the constitution clearly states that federal roads have its own maintenance allocation from the federal government.
According to Fadillah – the Petra Jaya MP and also Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) parliamentary whip – the Marris funds have been allocated since the time of the previous administration, and the allocation differs depending on the length, width and grades of the roads.
“Go and look at the provision of the law. Marris is a compulsory allocation to the state governments to maintain all state roads. Whether or not any state wants to use the fund to maintain federal roads is the prerogative of that state, not the federal government,” he said in response to a recent statement by Baru – the Selangau MP and Ba Kelalan assemblyman, and also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak chairman.
Fadillah said Baru should have made an effort to request for more allocations from the Finance Ministry for repair and maintenance works on federal roads.
“This is what I did when I was the minister – every time there was a shortage of fund, I would apply for additional allocations and never asked the state governments to use their funds for repair works,” said Fadillah.
At a press conference in Penang on Friday, Baru had said that the federal government might consider using grants under Marris to fund all road repair works, including those on federal roads, since Marris grants now only cover repairs on registered state roads.
According to him, the federal budget for maintenance and repair works on roads is insufficient and therefore, the Marris grants serve as an option that the ministry could look into.
“Some of these states have excess Marris funds, so the funds can be used to repair and maintain all roads – including federal roads,” Baru was quoted as having said.