Anwar said the sum was a token of appreciation for their services.

“As a gesture of goodwill, I will allocate RM1,000 for each family,” he said at the launch of the MyJalan app by the works ministry today.

In an effort to combat communist terrorists, the country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, had pushed for the construction of a highway connecting Gerik in Perak and Jeli in Kelantan in 1967.

On Aug 15 some seven years later, the workers, accompanied by a military unit, were ambushed by communist forces.

At that time, they were travelling from their base camp in Gerik to Banding for construction work.

Sixty-eight vehicles were blown up, resulting in the loss of three lives. Four public works department (JKR) workers were also injured and taken to Ipoh General Hospital for treatment.

Separately, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, announced an additional RM30 million to maintain and upgrade the highway.

He said this followed an additional allocation of RM250 million for maintenance purposes after taking into account the availability and quality of federal roads as announced in April.

“Recently, around RM56 million was approved, and there were further requests.

“Although there are many requests, I will review them in the (2024) budget in October. However, today, I have approved an additional RM30 million for road repairs,” he said.