Construction of rubberised roads depends on outcome of pilot projects - Fadillah

"We have done three pilot projects at three sites in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan (one kilometre each) and right now these roads are still under the evaluation process," said Fadillah after attending a special session with participants of 'Jom Masuk Universiti' (JMU) 2017 organised by Halaqah Kemajuan Muslim Sarawak (HIKAM), here, Sunday.

He was asked to comment on a statement by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong yesterday that the government would be initiating work to construct rubberised roads in some parts of the country by this year.

Fadillah said normally the evaluation process would take about two years but he had given a period of one year to evaluate by looking into the costing and technical parts and more importantly the outcome in terms of the strength of the new mixture of cup lump rubber and bitumen so that it will be more lasting compared to the conventional one.

"The final results will be available within this year and the three pilot projects are showing some positive indications that this will be one of the options.

"However, at the end of the day it is subjected to the technical and financial part of it," he said, adding that the fourth pilot project using the same method would soon be implemented in Pahang.

Fadillah said if proven good technically and financially, it would be implemented in the on-going Pan Borneo Sarawak Highway project.

According to Fadillah, construction of a rubberised road would be slightly more expensive than building a conventional one but the maintenance cost would be much cheaper in the long run.

Earlier during the dialogue session with the participants, Fadillah reminded them that entering university does not guarantee that they would get employed in the public or private sector.

"Entering university is for you to obtain formal higher education because the government has a limited number of jobs to offer but what the government can guarantee is to create more economic opportunities for the people," he said.