KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his ministry has conducted many studies on how to improve the country’s road safety condition.

However, he said that even though there are many good recommendations made, not all are easy to implement but pledged that the ministry will not give up.

“As much as we want to implement them, for example, one of the recommendations is to have dedicated motorcycle lanes to cut down motorcycle-caused deaths.

“But that needs a huge allocation and it requires our entire road system to be changed.

“From the Transport Ministry’s point of view, we are supportive, but we are not the ones who can implement it.

“Implementation has to be under Works Ministry, and in order for the Works Ministry to implement, the Finance Ministry has to set aside allocation, so these are the things that as much as we know the solution and want the solution to happen, it’s not that easy to implement, there are hindrances and limitations to a lot of these things,” Loke told Malay Mail during an interview.

So Loke said as far as road safety is concerned, his ministry will continue to focus on the measures that can be taken and continuously send a strong message about its focus on safety measures.

“The Works Ministry is prepared, but we have to do it in stages. Because for example, on the highways, the highways have already been constructed.

“(To have dedicated motorcycle lanes), you need to put another lane for motorcycles (on the highway), you need to put an 800-metre barrier along the North-South Highway for example and that will need a huge investment,” he said.

As part of the Road Safety Plan 2022–2030, the Transport Ministry announced last December that it will incorporate motorcycle lanes on all state and federal roadways as a bid to reduce road deaths by half by 2030, and indirectly reduce fatalities and injuries for motorcyclists.