A pothole accident victim was awarded RM652,000 in compensation after the accident caused him to lose his left leg.
According to a report by Sinar Harian, the Kota Bharu Sessions Court ruled that Roadcare Malaysia Sdn Bhd and the Malaysian government should compensate the victim for the accident that happened two years ago.
Roadcare Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a road maintenance contractor for the Malaysian government.
The victim, Tengku Muhamad Khazi Hakimi Ku Hussin was reported to have sustained the injury on 1 December 2019 at Kilometer 53 of Jalan Kota Bharu — Kuala Krai, in Machang.
Muhamad Khazi was represented by Wahab Che Kob and Nor Asniza Husin, and they said that the defendant initially denied and refuted the existence of potholes on the road in question.
“However, the court stated based on the evidence and the plaintiff’s testimony that the accident occurred due to the overflowing hole caused by the negligence of Roadcare.”
The decision was made by judge Mohd Zul Zakiqudin Zulkifli, and the defendant was represented by lawyers S Siva Shanker and Asmah Che Wan.
Pothole issues in Malaysia
The federal and state governments allocated millions for road repair each year but our roads remained filled with potholes.
To make things worse, the frequent heavy rainfall makes it more dangerous for road users as potholes would turn into puddles of water, making it difficult for motorists to detect them.
Meanwhile, there are also multiple complaints that even if potholes were repaired, new potholes will soon emerge. This then made Malaysians believe that contractors are using inferior road materials for these repairs.
On the other hand, there is also one obvious problem that Malaysians are facing, where road repairs only seem to happen when the election is near.
More often than not, the public had to take their own initiative to fix these potholes.
