By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 29: Slope management, including road infrastructure, must be ensured to function safely without compromise even in the face of extreme weather.
In a TVS news, Minister of Works Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi said service resilience must be prioritised to ensure public access remains uninterrupted.
At the same time, he emphasised that efforts must focus on minimising the risk of disruptions while ensuring recovery is carried out swiftly and in an orderly manner.
“The cost of repairing damage caused by slope failure is far higher and more complex compared to preventive measures.
“Therefore, policy priorities must now shift towards preventive investment and early, data-driven interventions. This is crucial to ensure that every ringgit spent delivers maximum safety impact for the people,” he said when officiating the International Conference on Slopes 2026 (ICOS 2026) in Kuala Lumpur today.
The conference, themed resilience, adaptation, and sustainable slopes, was organised in collaboration with the Road Engineering Association of Malaysia, aiming to strengthen national slope management through knowledge sharing, capacity building, and professionalism among experts, government agencies, industry players, and academia.
Meanwhile, Nanta said the government will continue to firmly support efforts to enhance technical capabilities and accelerate the adoption of best practices in the interest of national safety.
“I am optimistic that when engineers, academics, researchers and industry players come together under one roof as at ICOS 2026, no challenge is too great to overcome,” he said. — DayakDaily
