127 state roads, 70 federal roads in Pahang affected by floods

PEKAN: A total of 127 state roads and 70 federal roads in Pahang have been affected by floods that hit the state on Sunday, said Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said in addition to roads cut off due to water ponding, other forms of damage included landslides that caused the closure of roads at several locations.

"The repair works will be completed after the floods recede. We will, however, implement a short-term plan to enable the affected roads to reopen for public use soonest possible.

"The assessment of damage, amount of allocation and how long repairs to the damage will take will be attended to as soon as the floodwaters recede," he told Bernama after a working visit to Jalan Kuantan-Segamat, here, today.

The road was closed to road users last Friday following a landslide and a lane was reopened yesterday evening after urgent repairs were made.

Fadillah said the preliminary reports on road damage in Pahang and estimated costs to repair these would be tabled to the Cabinet next week.

"The Public Works Department (JKR) headquarters will also send the assistance needed by the Pahang JKR to speed up the recovery efforts," he added.

The roads affected by floods include the Raub Tranum to the Gap, Jalan Bentong to Gua Musang, Jalan Sungai Lembing in Kuantan, the entry road to Bangkong, here, and Jalan Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Aur in Rompin.

Fadillah said JKR would install a bailey bridge to replace the Kampung Lechar bridge in Raub, about 230 kilometres from here, that collapsed due to strong currents, for the temporary use of local residents.

"The Temerloh JKR will send it (bailey bridge), but the floods has made it difficult for us to do so at this time, so we have to wait until the floodwaters recede slightly," he added.

Meanwhile, JKR in a statement said that clean-up work at the location of a landslide in Jalan Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan has been completed and the road is now partially open to all vehicles.

"Slope repair works by the Slope Engineering branch at an estimated cost of RM1 million is expected to begin in the middle of this month," it said.

-- BERNAMA