Highway concessionaire PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) has stepped up operations to ensure the safety and comfort of motorists during the upcoming Aidilfitri festive season.

Its managing director Datuk Azman Ismail, in a statement, said PLUS is collaborating with the Emergency Response Team (ERT) to ensure, besides emergency assistance, road safety and regulations at several main toll plazas are adhered to.

He said to minimise the risk of COVID-19 infection, motorists are advised to ensure their Touch ‘n Go cards are reloaded before entering the highway, adding that some 2,900 PLUS staff will also be on duty during the festive period.

“We will be using drones to conduct air surveillance at strategic locations besides closing the toll lanes for prepaid reloads to contain the spread of COVID-19,” he said.

He said the police will mount roadblocks with strict enforcement during the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) to prevent unauthorised inter-state travel during the festive season, adding that PLUSRonda teams will also be patrolling its highways.

Azman said PLUS expects about million vehicles to be plying its highways throughout the Syawal month.

“We fully back the initiative taken by the authorities to contain the pandemic,” he said.

He said all surau at rest and service areas (RR) will remain closed, with only public toilets and parking areas there open to the public during the CMCO period.

Motorists can obtain the latest traffic information by calling Plusline (‪1800-88-0000‬) or via Twitter PLUSTrafik, the PLUS mobile application, electronic boards or via main radio stations, he said.

“The public can use Waze or Google Maps to avoid congestion and also can interact with the ‘PUTRI’ virtual chatbox for any inquiries via website (a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.plus.com.myamp;source=gmailamp;ust=1590239463304000amp;usg=AFQjCNHdyFd6myy_0hhJYYGzFoPWVovQRQ" href="http://www.plus.com.my/" target="_blank"www.plus.com.my/a), PLUSMiles portal (a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.plusmiles.com.myamp;source=gmailamp;ust=1590239463304000amp;usg=AFQjCNGRsanSev2x8pGj44e1hJ7O6Efnfg" href="http://www.plusmiles.com.my/" target="_blank"www.plusmiles.com.my/a) and PLUS application,” he said.

-- BERNAMA