By Loong Meng Yee and Lester Kong

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia): The Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) is structurally safe, despite a scare that saw a temporary closure of a ramp, leading to massive jams.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohd gave this assurance following a scare when three panels of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) fell from Pillar 28 of the highway yesterday morning.

Motorists were shocked when the panels fell from the pillar at 7.25am causing a 3km congestion that lasted for several hours. The ramp was temporarily closed.

However, the six-lane elevated section of highway will be reduced to four lanes near the Kompleks Desa for the next three weeks as a safety precaution pending an investigation.

Mohd Zin said an investigation would be carried out on the incident which came two years after RM70mil was spent to repair cracks that appeared on 31 of the 33 pillars. The highway was re-opened in 2006.

Pillar 28 was one of the affected beams then.

Mohd Zin said those responsible for the shoddy work and negligence would have to bear the cost of repairs.

"The Government will not bear any cost because the repair is still under warranty until the end of the year," he said.

It is learnt that the German consultants responsible for the repairs on the 31 pillars had been told to fly in and fix the problem.

Mohd Zin said each pillar was toughened with 18 panels of CFRP that was meant to take the stress from passing vehicles.

However, the pillar is within international standards that stipulate that only 12 panels are needed for concrete support.

"Even without the three damaged strips, we still have 15 more panels to support Pillar 28," said Mohd Zin when he visited the site yesterday.

For safety reasons, he said only four of the six lanes on the highway would be opened for the next three weeks.

Asked what might have caused the damage, Mohd Zin said tensile stress on the highway might have been too much for the CFRP to bear. He said the other pillars would also be checked.

Asked why the concrete on Pillar 28 fell after repairs were made, Mohd Zin said he would reveal the reasons after investigations were completed.

"We also want to know what happened. When investigations are completed and if we find that defects are caused by negligence on the part of the suppliers or contractors, we will hold them responsible," he said.

Asked if Anti-Corruption Agency should investigate the matter, he said: "One step at a time, let's find out what happened first."