Need for safer road crossing

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STUDENTS of SMK Pusing risk their lives daily because they have to cross a busy road to get to their school.

There are no traffic lights along the road in front of the school, or a zebra crossing despite the heavy traffic and high number of heavy vehicles plying the road.

Neither are there speed bumps nor proper signage to force motorists to slow down when nearing the school.

Time to do something: Ahmad Baidove (left) receiving a memorandum from Sarasvathy at his office. With them are parents of the students of SMK Pusing and PSM members.

Worried for their children, a group of parents have collected 2,500 signatures from students, fellow parents and nearby residents to compel the Public Works Department (PWD) to look into the matter.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairman M. Sarasvathy, who is assisting the group, said there had been lives lost while others were left with severe injuries while trying to cross the road.

“The school is just 1km away from the Ipoh-Lumut Road, which is considered a highway, and is especially busy during peak hours.

“In the 10 years since the school opened, there have been several accidents, some resulting in fatalities,” she said, adding that complaints to PWD had so far fallen on deaf ears.

“It is ridiculous for the department to say it does not have allocations to build an overhead bridge whereas these safety features should have been in place at the time the school was built.

“In any case, PWD should have a contingency fund to deal with such life-and-death circumstances,” said Sarasvathy, adding that the signatures were collected over a period of two months.

A parent Tham May Fong, 37, said she was constantly worried for her 17-year-old son who cycles to school.

“It is not until he gets back home safely each day that I can heave a sigh of relief,” she added.

Another parent Lee Kam Lin, 59, said she not only feared for the safety of her son but also her husband, who sends and picks up the boy from school on motorcycle.

“I hope PWD will take immediate steps to settle the issue, which is really long overdue,” she added.

Last week, Sarasvathy and several parents handed over a memorandum to the state PWD, urging it to act fast.

Perak PWD deputy director Ahmad Baidove Anuar, who received the memorandum on behalf of the department, said he would send a team to the site to see what immediate measures could be taken.

“We are aware of the situation and have forwarded a proposal to our headquarters to build an overhead bridge.

“However, due to lack of funds, the project could not take off,” he said, adding that the state PWD would continue to push for the project to be carried out.