Twenty three accident-prone areas in Sabah (Jalan hantu?)

The rising number of commuting accidents on our roads is a very worrying trend.

In 2011, there were 24,809 out of the overall 59,897 commuting accidents in the country reported to SOCSO, for which it paid out compensatory disbursements amounting to RM1.71 billion. That is an increase of 12% from 2010 figure of 22,036 cases (out of the overall 57,639 cases), which cost SOCSO RM1.68 billion in compensation.

Remember this accident involving Shell fuel tanker and a newly acquired train belonging to Sabah Railways in Jalan Kepayan. Photo: extracted from keruak.com



I took this picture few days after the incident. Sabah Railways is almost done with the cleaning up.


Commuting accident cases is on the uptrend as indicated by this year's January-April statistics (nationwide):
January    : 1,961 cases
February  : 4,106
March      : 6,301
April        : 8,434

In Sabah, there were 111 such cases recorded from January to July this year; most of which took place in March (22 cases) and July (19 cases).

It is time to balik kampung for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration and motorise are advised to be extra careful along the 23 accident-prone areas throughout Sabah. Some call them as jalan hantu (spooky) for apparent reason. The roads are:

1. Jalan Tuaran Bypass
2. Jalan /BeluranTelupid
3. KM68 Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
4. KM77  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
5. KM90  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
6. KM93  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
7. KM107  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
8. KM121  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu (an express bus accident just happened here last Thursday)
9. KM124  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
10. KM126  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
11. KM130  Jalan Sandakan/Lahad Datu
12. Jalan Kudat/Kota Kinabalu
13. Jalan Lama Parar/Kota Kinabalu/Beaufort
14. Jalan Beaufort/Papar
15. Jalan Beaufort/Menumbok
16. Jalan Tawau/Kunak
17. Jalan Lahad Datu/Sandakan
18. Jalan Kunak/Lahad Datu
19. Jalan Bulatan Rugading-Serusup/Laya-Laya
20. Jalan Ranau/Telupid
21. Jalan Ranau/Tamparuli
22. Jalan Penampang/Tambunan
23. Jalan Sipitang/Sindumin

Please observe the 10km/h speed reduction which was implemented nationwide during this year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration period. AND DON'T DRIVE ON THE FAST LANE on a dual-carriageway if you are driving slow. That is an offence, just like when you are speeding above the speed limit.

Happy Holiday, happy balik kampung and have a safe journey home.

INTEGRITY is the name of the Game

Barely two weeks ago we were shocked with the tragedy involving foreign workers while on their routine to demolish the old Jaya Supermarket building. Last week we were again shocked (or, should we be shocked anymore?) by the collapse of roof of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium.

Oh, and if some of us have short memory there were countless more "pleasant surprises" of such nature, let's name a few:

1. MRR2 in Kepong, failed in 2006 and again in 2008 (approx Rm20-70mil)
2. Land slide at Bt Antarabangsa in 2008 (approx Rm70mil allocated for repair)
3. Leaking Parliament building (remember some smart Parliamentarians poking jokes out of this)
4. "Flaking" new Federal Administration building in Jln Sulaman, K.Kinabalu.
5. Cracked and unsafe JPJ HQ building at Jln Bundusan?

Photo from Berita Harian showing the collapsed roof. Did we have a slightest tremor that could have shaked the "tough-build" stadium recently?

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Photo from TheStar showing the section of Bukit Antarabangsa which failed and slid.

Photo by keretadotcom magazine shows motorist being deprived of better traffic flow due to mistake not of their doing.

Speaking of flake, if you frequent the big shopping mall,1Borneo Hypermart, you'll notice that the tiles are also flaking like the scales of a dead crocodile. They have to cover these sections with non-slip garment or even masking tapes to hide the scaled floor.

What I'm saying is that, these big structures were build at staggering cost and we choose to go slow and easy in solving them from the root cause. We tend to fire-fight everytime there are problems but we selectively ignore the real problems underlaying. The Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium was built for RM292mil, MRR2 at RM120mil (could someone tell me how much did it cost us to build teh new Putrajaya Building at Jalan Sulaman, KK?).

If the people seem not to be surprised anymore, it would not be because we are facing man made problems but rather at the pace the entrusted Leaders are handling things. I'm not surprised at why the roof of the stadium collapsed but I'd be really surprised if there is no party/ies held responsible for it after the thorough investigation.

For your own good, don't include "Act of God" as one of the reason in your report because God is not party to your man-made destruction. It is "Your Acts and My Acts" that ruin things!


Further readings:
a) Bernama - Roof Of Stadium Collapses
b) New Strait Times - Bukit Antarabangsa Tragedy
c) Daily Express - Sabah JPJ building unsafe