The government would consider the proposal to raise the highway speed limit from 110 kilometres per hour, said Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

To this end, he said, the matter needed in-depth study, involving discussions with the Road Safety Department (JKJR) and Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).

"In the context of setting the speed limit, it is not up to the Works Department alone but we work with JKJR and Miros for their perspectives from the aspect of safety.

"We see it more from the aspect of safety, because our highways have been designed for a maximum speed limit of only 120 kmph but some people drive up to 200 kmph and in Malaysia the road accident rate is high," he said.

He said this in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday while winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for his ministry.

Fadillah noted that road accidents were the product of several factors but based on statistics and studies by JKJR and Miros, speed was among the main causes of fatalities.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry through the Malaysian Highway Authority had ordered all highway concessionaires to upgrade the electronic payment transaction systems at their toll plazas.

He said this was to prevent disruption of the toll payment process and avoid congestion at the entrances and exits of the toll plazas.

He cited necessary actions such as modification to the circuit breakers of the electronic payment systems so that only problematic electrical circuits would trip without affecting the systems at other lanes.

Meanwhile, Fadillah said the ministry in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency and Prime Minister's Department would study the proposed special fund for rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by floods. -- Bernama