MALAYSIA: About 1,000 km of state roads will be rubberized

Malaysia is ready to rubberize about 1,000 kilometres of state roads beginning this year, Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) Director-General Datuk Dr Mohd Akbar Md Said said.

He said the diverse use of rubber, especially for construction, would help reduce the current rubber stockpile and shore up flagging prices for the commodity.

Rubberized roads offer superior performance, safety, durability and low maintenance compared with conventional roads. Mohd Akbar also said the board was looking at how to increase the domestic consumption of the commodity in other sectors.

He was speaking to reporters after the opening of a workshop on “Specialty Rubbers for Green Rubber Products” by MRB Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Muhammad Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur on 2 Feb 2016.

Mohd Akbar also said it was possible to rubberize roads in the country as evident from the one kilometre rubberized road built at the Kota Tinggi Research Station in Johor. “Indeed, we are now looking at state roads and also estate roads,” he added.

Mohd Akbar said Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have decided to increase the domestic consumption of the commodity and one option was to use natural rubber for road construction. “The three countries have looked into the possibility of using 300,000 tons of natural rubber for the next 5-10 years,” he added.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Leo said the workshop was being held against a backdrop of a stagnant industry. “Today’s workshop will be a good platform to enhance understanding and awareness on the applications of specialty rubber namely Epoxidized Natural Rubber (Ekoprena) and Deprotenized Natural Rubber (Pureprena) for the manufacture of green rubber products,” he said. These speciality rubbers are produced as a renewable source to be in line with the global trend towards sustainable and environmentally-friendly rubber products.

Mohd Akbar said the government has allocated an initial grant of RM5 million to construct the first commercial processing plant for Ekoprena and Pureprena. The first Ekoprena processing plant was built by Felda Rubber Industries Sdn Bhd.

Source: “The Borneo Post”, Kuching, Sarawak; 3 Feb 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)