SARAWAK is to re-evaluate the design and engineering of its roads after the cave-in at Jalan Pakan–Entabai in Pakan, central Sarawak, yesterday, which nearly claimed the life of two motorists.

The incident it the latest rural road to be damaged as central Sarawak had been battered by heavy rain in recent days, triggering a number of landslides and leaving some areas flooded.

In November last year, a section of the Pan Borneo Highway collapsed and a sinkhole was reported after a battering by the year-end monsoon rains.

“It could be poor design. But whatever it is, we need an explanation and we have to look into them (the road slips and cave-ins),” Deputy Chief Minister James Masing said when asked by journalists why roads in the state are prone to collapse and cave-in during heavy rain.

Masing, who is also the state’s Minister of Infrastructure Development and Transportation, said his ministry will “do a proper” investigation to find out “where did we go wrong”.

“We need to relook at the engineering design. We’ll not sweep them under the carpet,” he said after a dialogue between Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg and members of the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM) in Kuching today.

Masing said road engineers must also look at their designs seriously as these collapses should not have happened.

Earlier, the chief minister said at the dialogue that he was “concerned on (the conditions of) our roads”.

He made a reference to a section of the “new” coastal road near the town of Simunjan.

In the Pakan collapse at Mile 8 near Engkamop, a driver of a 4x4 vehicle drove into a 17m chasm around 4am.

The Bintangor Fire and Rescue Services Department, who responded to the Pakan district disaster committee’s call for assistance, said the driver, identified as Benet Janak, probably could not see the cave-in as the road was unlit.

The cave-in had taken out some 35m of the road, cutting off several longhouses in the area from their lifeline – the town of Pakan.

Janak and his passenger, Rantau Kelambu, were unhurt, but they were taken to hospital for shock.

The company awarded the contract to maintain the Pakan road, CMS Construction & Road Maintenance, is currently constructing a diversion to reconnect the road. – February 25, 2019.