The MoU, which was held today at UEM Edgenta Learning Centre in Petaling Jaya and witnessed by YB Tuan Baru Bian, Minister of Works Malaysia, is a step towards the Ministry’s vision of establishing new industry standards focusing on safer work conditions for expressway maintenance workers at the frontlines in this labour-intensive sector, as well as to protect the safety of road users.

“Elevating the level of road safety in Malaysia has always been one of the top priorities of the Ministry and with the increasing number of vehicles on the road, additional measures have to be taken to ensure no lives are lost due to either carelessness or even poor maintenance of the infrastructure. Ministry of Works will continue to support efforts to modernise Malaysia’s expressways through the adoption of innovative and safer solutions which will enable the maintenance operators to reduce its workers’ exposure to live traffic via the use of mechanised solutions and at the same time protect road users,” said YB Tuan Baru Bian.

Each of the MoU signatory will contribute to the partnership based on their respective expertise spanning operational, regulatory and training, and when combined will positively impact, as well as further advance highway safety standards.

The MoU will among others focus on the study and research on human capital competency gap in highway maintenance; to set standards and benchmarks on safety best practices for expressway maintenance that can be adopted by other players or companies involved in roads and highways maintenance works; and enhance road safety to protect both public and expressway maintenance workers.

The outcome will see the production of appropriate manual(s) relating to the objective of this MoU; not limited to best practices and necessary curriculum to address the competency gap in expressway maintenance. Moving forward, the public can expect the relevant workforce to be certified by the three parties and additionally the best practices will be shared with other expressway maintenance operators in the country.

Launch of New Mechanisation Vehicles for Expressway Maintenance

In line with the objectives of the MoU and as part of its commitment to a safer working environment for its expressway maintenance workers and the public at large, UEM Edgenta through its expressway and roads maintenance division, Edgenta Infrastructure Services, has launched a fleet of new mechanised expressway maintenance vehicles. A demonstration on the capabilities of these vehicles was organised for the Minister of Works this afternoon.

Among the vehicles launched was the mechanised grass cutter, mechanical road sweeper, Impact Protection Vehicle (IPV) and remote slope grass mower. The mechanised grass cutter is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia that is then paired with the IPV to provide added safety for expressway users and increase operational productivity by more than 15 times as compared to manual grass cutting. The mechanical road sweeper on the other hand is the first in Malaysia to be used for road sweeping. Coupled with this is the remote slope grass mower, in which the implementation of these new expressway maintenance vehicles is anticipated to result in reduced labour demands and most importantly provide added safety for its workers by minimising their exposure to live traffic when performing routine, maintenance works.

Dato’ Azmir Merican, Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of UEM Edgenta said, “It is no longer the case for companies like Edgenta Infrastructure Services to maintain expressways the traditional way. As one of the main players in this sector, we continue to be driven by the advent of technology and introduce new mechanised and automated features in our operations for the convenience and safety of expressway users and our employees.”

“Our innovation transcends beyond what is visible on the expressways as we use big data to deliver insights which allows us remote monitoring capabilities, addressing routine and maintenance works strategically rather than based on a schedule. We will continue to challenge the conventional ways of performing our responsibilities and reduce exposure of our workers to the hazards at the frontlines,” he added.

As Edgenta Infrastructure Services’ main client, PLUS Malaysia Berhad is in support of the implementation of these new technology and mechanisation on the PLUS expressways, that will provide comfort and safety to its road users.

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