Since the Works Ministry set-up its 24-hour hotline, thousands have called in to complain about poor road conditions. But Works Minister S Samy Vellu is said to be a happy man.

Why? Because he personally managed to get through to the hotline and establish that it works.

According to his press secretary E Sivabalan, the minister ( left ) made the call from his mobile phone while chairing his ministry's post-Cabinet meeting.

"The minister wanted to know if the complaints were being channelled to the relevant authorities and what actions were taken," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

He said Samy Vellu was happy that since the hotline was activated last Thursday, the bureau had received thousands of calls from the public, mainly to complain about poor road conditions in their areas.

The minister also called the hotline manned by the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) at 1-800-88-7752 to check on the complaints received, he added.

The public can make their complaints to the ministry at toll-free 1-800-88-5004 or via e-mail to aduan@jkr.gov.my and through the SMS by typing JKR and send to 32728 (DAPAT).

Look into every complaint

After announcing the setting-up of the hotline, Samy Vellu reassured the public that complaints "no matter how small" would get the ministry's attention.

He said the bureau, chaired by the ministry's secretary-general, would meet every fortnight to solve the problems lodged by the public.

Sivabalan said the minister was still receiving many calls and SMS messages on his mobile phone after making it public on television.

Samy Vellu, who is also MIC president, later said he was inundated with calls, keeping awake till the wee hours in the morning.

"Some of the genuine calls are being diverted to the ministry's hotline for immediate action," said his secretary.

The minister has come under intense fire of late over cracks appearing on flyovers and elevated highways.