The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry expressed their hope that all roads constructed throughout the country including the Pan Borneo Highway will use rubber premix. This is in order to maximise the usage of rubber produced by smallholders in the country and to stabilise the price of the commodity.
Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur said based on the ministry’s study, each kilometre of rubberised road would use 4.2 tonnes of rubber.
“Our study has completed and we hope the Public Works Department would compel all road construction in the country to use rubber. The move would benefit rubber smallholders and if the Pan Borneo Highway uses rubber, it will invigorate the industry,” he told Dewan Rakyat.
He was replying to a question by Datuk Fauzi Abdul Rahman (PKR-Indera Mahkota) who wanted to know whether rubberised roads would be built extensively in future.
Datu Nasrun said the decision to build more rubberised roads was up the Works Ministry as his ministry was only responsible for the study