KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Close to RM2 billion was spent last year on road maintenance in Peninsular Malaysia, involving 11 states, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said.Alexander stated that 79.45 per cent of the total 2024 allocation was directed toward Peninsular roads, averaging 7.22 per cent per state, while Sabah received 13.23 per cent, Sarawak 6.378 per cent, and Labuan 0.95 per cent.“Referring to the honourable member’s question, the maintenance allocation for federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia channelled in 2024 amounts to RM1.909 billion. This includes distribution to 11 states covering routine maintenance, periodic pavement and non-pavement maintenance, bridge maintenance, streetlights, traffic signals, and minor maintenance allocations for each district engineer. The length of federal roads maintained in Peninsular Malaysia is estimated at 13,596.85 kilometres,” he explained.For federal roads in Sabah, he said the maintenance allocation channelled in the same year amounted to RM317.973 million. This covered routine and periodic maintenance, bridge maintenance, streetlights, traffic signals, and minor allocations for each district engineer.“The length of federal roads maintained in Sabah in 2024 is estimated at 1,378 kilometres. For information, some of the gazetted federal road alignments have been taken over by the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah upgrade project. In 2023, RM224.035 million was spent on Sabah federal road maintenance, while this year, RM251.43 million has been allocated for Phase 1/2025,” Alexander added.He was responding to Keningau MP Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan, who asked about the government’s allocation for maintaining federal and state roads in 2024 across Peninsular Malaysia, Putrajaya, and Kuala Lumpur, including the total road length and the allocation for Sabah’s roads.Alexander also clarified that his ministry only handles federal road maintenance, while state road maintenance is carried out by the state government through allocations from the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris). These allocations are channelled by the federal government with the approval of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).“Roads in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya fall under the purview of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Putrajaya Corporation, respectively,” he said.To address and reduce the maintenance backlog, Alexander said the ministry consistently seeks additional allocations from the MoF to ensure the safety and comfort of road users in Sabah.