PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have not responded positively to an apology by the Kuala Langat Works Department to Khairy Jamaluddin after the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister hit a pothole and crashed during a cycling trip in Banting on Sunday (Dec 27).
-Advertisement-
Many took jabs at the apology on social media, questioning if a similar apology would be extended to regular Malaysians if they were the ones injured because of a pothole.
“When a minister tripped and fell, they were quick to apologise. But when Malaysians lose their lives due to potholes, they don’t even care,” said Adznee Abas on Facebook.
Another social media user, Zul Salleh, criticised what he claimed were double standards, saying: “because a minister was affected, action was swiftly taken”.
“For Malaysians whose tyres were punctured and had suffered from falls, can we sue the government?” Jegathesan Muniandy questioned on Facebook on Sunday (Dec 27).
There were other sarcastic comments as well, with some posting videos and pictures of potholes and bad roads, saying that these could be repaired faster if ministers cycled there in future.
“The ministers can cycle near my housing area next time so our potholes can be fixed immediately,” said Syahir LangGulung on Facebook.
On Sunday, Khairy tweeted a picture of his bruised face with minor scratches, saying that he had a fall after hitting a pothole while cycling around Kampung Seri Cheeding in Banting, Selangor.
“Pothole, ditch, KJ. 2020 keeps giving,” he tweeted.
-Advertisement-
The Kuala Langat district Works Department issued an apology about five hours later.
“The Kuala Langat district Works Department apologises for the incident affecting YB minister and we will take immediate action and we pray for his speedy recovery,” tweeted the department.
Potholes and broken roads have been a long-standing problem in the country, often leading to accidents that cause injuries, vehicular damage and sometimes deaths.
There is a local group called Ikatan Silaturahim Brotherhood formed in 2011 which voluntarily fixes potholes when local authorities take too long to patch broken roads.
In October, there were renewed calls to the government to patch up potholes instead of renaming streets after the Federal Territories Ministry announced plans to rename Jalan Raja Laut 1 as Jalan Palestin to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
On Nov 3, it was reported that a total of 52,295 reports on potholes in Selangor alone was recorded on navigation app Waze between January 2019 to September 2020.
From the amount, 37,130 reports were on potholes on roads maintained by local councils and 10,219 were on roads under the Works Department.
Another 4,553 reports were on roads falling under the purview of the Selangor state works department and 393 on roads under the district land office. – THE STAR