MHA IDENTIFIES 196 CRITICAL HILLSLOPES ALONG M'SIAN HIGHWAYS

BUTTERWORTH (Malaysia), Dec 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Highway Authority has instructed the highway concessionaires to monitor 196 critical hillslopes along the country's highways to prevent landslips.

Its director-general Mohamad Razali Othman said 179 of the critical
hillslopes were along the North-South Expressway and 17 along the Kuala
Lumpur-Karak Highway, of which six were at Km38 and required close monitoring,
especially during the rainy season.

"However, all areas along this highway is safe for users while the
identified critical hillslopes are currently stable," he said after attending a
briefing on the Variation of Prices (VOP) and Industrial Building System
(IBS)for the north zone, here, Tuesday.

Mohamad Razali said monitoring was required every two months for the
critical areas to detect any soil movement while at the same time, MHA would do
earial patrolling for any activity that could destabilise the hillslopes along
highways.

"We want to ensure that there are no activities such as sand mining and
vegetable farming on hilltops that can contribute to landslips."

He said highway users should not be unduly worried as the highways were
safe.