THE Perak government sent an application to the federal government last year to upgrade the Gerik-Jeli East-West Highway (JRTB), Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad said.

He added that the application was made after the Public Works Department and Gerik District Council had made several studies of the damage.

Saarani said he also went to survey the damage at several locations along the highway with the then public works minister Fadillah Yusof.

“We (the state government) not only sent a letter, but also went to see Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to inform him about the condition of the highway prior to the tabling of Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Therefore, the statement by Deputy Public Works Minister Abdul Rahman Mohamad in parliament recently that we made no application was not true,” he said in Ipoh today.

Rahman made the statement on February 28 in response to an oral question from Gerik MP  athul Huzir Ayob. – Bernama, March 21, 2023.