ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor government plans to upgrade suitable village roads into state roads so that it can get more road maintenance allocations under the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris).
State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the state government receives an allocation of RM13,000 per kilometre of village road compared to RM30,000 per kilometre of state road.
"We hope to receive more road maintenance allocations under Marris so we plan to upgrade suitable village roads into state roads. However, to do this, we need to make our own investments to upgrade and widen these roads.
He said that for 2017, the state government has identified 20 kilometres of village roads that will be upgraded into state roads.
"It will cost between RM15 million and RM20 million to upgrade these roads, which are mostly located in Batu Pahat," said Hasni, adding that the upgrade would include widening the roads from between eight and 14 feet to about 18 feet.