KOTA KINABALU: The Road Transport Ministry will assign a technician in every district in Sabah to ensure all federal roads in the State are in tip-top condition.

Its secretary-general, Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Munit Kasmin said during a dinner function held for expedition participants comprising ministry personnel on Monday evening said that these technicians would be monitoring the works of the two concessionaires who have been awarded to maintain federal roads in Sabah.

"The step is to ensure our roads are always in good condition," he said in his speech.

He added that the concessionaires must make sure that they performed their duties and ensured the roads were safe to use.

'I don't want to hear excuses. The concessionaires are the ones who tendered for the projects, so now that they have the project, they must ensure they perform their duties," he said.

According to Abdul Munit, if the concessionaires failed to meet the standard required by the ministry in maintaining the roads to its satisfaction, the job would be awarded to others.

"If we are not pleased, we will take it back," he warned the concessionaires whose chief executive officers were also present.

The federal government manages 1,400 km of roads in Sabah, while 700 km are under the care of the State Government.

"We want our roads to be of higher standard," he said.

At the same time, he also assured the concessionaires that the ministry would ensure they were paid on time.

"Money is not a problem. The Federal Government has approved an allocation of RM50 million for this (maintenance)," he said.

He also said that if the payment was late, they should bring the matter up to his attention so that it could be settled soonest possible.

Abdul Munit also said that he was made to understand that the concessionaires were facing more problems in Sabah compared to other concessionaires in other states.

"Sabah has a complex landscape"at hilly areas in Kudat, there are landslides and this contributes to some of the problems at our roads such as uneven surface, cracks and so on," he said.

Nevertheless, it was the tasks of these firms to fix the problems that emerged on the federal roads, he said.

Meanwhile, three groups took part in the expeditions. They were assigned to check on federal roads from Tawau to Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu, Sindumin to Kota Kinabalu and from Kudat to Kota Kinabalu.

They reported their findings and among the notable problems were cracks, pot holes, and missing road signs.