KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- In 2014, death rate of the road traffic accidents in Malaysia is second highest next to Thailand among ASEAN countries. In order to tackle the issue, JICA, in collaboration with Road Safety Department (JKJR) Malaysia, is scheduled to implement a new technical cooperation project on Road Safety Program beginning in 2018. Under this program, Japanese experience on road safety will be shared with Malaysian counterpart through dispatch of Japanese experts, technical training in Japan and seminars.

In the beginning, JICA has dispatched missions to do needs survey in order to determine the required areas of cooperation on road safety issues in Malaysia. The studies aimed to gather vital information and analyse the issues to examine the way road safety ought to be through JICA’s project as well as formulation of possible projects. The studies also contributed to further understanding on current situation including roles and coordination among related agencies by collecting necessary materials to extract concrete problems concerning road safety.

Based on these preliminary studies which were mainly done in Kuala Lumpur city, some major issues have been identified as the main factors to cause traffic accidents in Malaysia. One of the issues is the heavy congestion caused by a mix of traffic in diverging points, mixture points and crossing points. While the number of lanes was increased to ease traffic jams, it is observed that the problem is still unsolved due to lane angling that did not consider the diverging and merging traffics.

Apart from that, the agencies and organizations in-charge of road traffic safety in Malaysia are very much defined and provides adequate technical support and expertise to address traffic safety issues and reduce the number of traffic crash victims. There is another big challenge for authorities in Malaysia to deal with the issue of road safety which the project, based on Japan’s experience, will introduce how the right approach with proper coordination between different agencies could help to improvise the implementation of road safety programs. 

To ensure the efficiency of the outcome of the project, JKJR has initiated a link between the road safety related agencies in Malaysia including Malaysian Royal Police (traffic), Fire and Rescue Department, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), Road Transport Department (JPJ) and Malaysian Highway Authority. Active involvement of these agencies in the project could also be the starting point for strengthening of cooperation and coordination among related agencies in Malaysia in the future.

JICA hopes to provide knowledge transfer and good lessons throughout the project. Japan had progress in modernization and urbanization in existing high density urban areas and had overcome serious problems that resulted from rapid motorization. These experiences will provide helpful tips for Malaysia which is now suffering from increased traffic crashes caused by rapid motorization and changes in lifestyle.

Source : Japan International Cooperation Agency Malaysia Office (JICA)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Hafiz Othman/ Yuka Sonoyama
Tel : +60-3-2166-8900
ms_oso_rep@jica.go.jp

--BERNAMA