SLOPE management on federal roads throughout Peninsular Malaysia has not been effectively and competently managed, the National Audit Department said in the third series of its 2018 report.

This was due to weak planning and failure to optimise the allocation received to carry out slope repair work.

Money requested for slope restoration work was not completely utilised, with only 497 restoration jobs done despite there being 988 landslides, all of which had budgetary allocations requested.

Meanwhile, only 56 landslide prevention works have been completed out of the imposed target of 946. 

The report also said that the lack of updated data and Slope Hazard and Risk Mapping (SHRM) had affected planning for slope works.

No guidelines or mechanisms have been established for the frequency of updating slope data and the SHRM. 

Weaknesses in slope management can contribute to consumer safety risks and result in loss of lives due to landslides, the audit report added. 

It also found that routine slope maintenance inspections were not conducted from 2013 until the date of the audit.

The audit entailed the assessment of slope management on federal roads throughout Peninsular Malaysia for two years, from 2016 until 2019.

The total allocation that was given for slope maintenance purposes between 2016 to 2019 was RM205.56 million.

The percentage of expenditure for landslide prevention work compared to the allocation received was only 32%.

Ministries involved in the management of federal roads throughout Peninsular Malaysia are the Works Ministry, Finance Ministry, Housing and Local Government Ministry, among others. – July 14, 2020.