Residents fear phone and power poles may collapse
Published on: Thursday, October 28, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
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Rust has eaten through the base of the electricity pole.
A skymaster was deployed to assist in efforts to repair the streetlights in this Luyang neighbourhood.
Rust had apparently formed on these poles, some of which looked as if they could topple over at any time as they were bending over dangerously. Both individuals provided Hotline with the location of these structures which were forwarded to TM and SESB. A TM spokesman and SESB spokeswoman said their staff would check on the condition of the telephone and electricity poles in the Penampang and Kolombong neighbourhoods. “We will arrange to any which are damaged replaced and those which are leaning over set up right,” they said. “A fresh coat of paint will be applied to the surfaces of poles which require it.”
A layer of rust has begun to form on the surface of this TM pole.
When asked how often their installations were attended to, they said maintenance was performed as and when it was warranted. ELANOR, who lives in Taman Everclicked, took TM to task for failing to attend to the leaning telephone poles along her housing road three years after she first brought this matter to the firm’s attention. She said the one on the verge outside her front yard was inching closer and closer to her roof. “It gets keeps getting blown more and more out place by strong winds which sometimes blow before it rains heavily,” she said. Elanor said she had reported the irregularity with the poles to TM’s 100 – Customer Assistance Service – several times since 2019 when she first noticed that the pole was no longer upright.
The contractor’s staff checks the condition of the connection to this light.
“At one stage, someone from the firm came my area and took photographs of the pole beside my fence.” This personnel apparently assured the subscriber that the relevant section would be alerted to this problem. He told me that TM would arrange to have all the bending poles on the stretch returned to their original position.
This telephone pole has gradually been bending closer and closer to the roof of this Penampang house beside it.
“Years have passed and the company has yet to take action. Lately, I have noticed that the metal surface of the pole nearest to me is covered with rust. “If the cables snap, the telecommunications services for subscribers here will surely be disrupted.” STEVE of Kolombong said something similar was likely to happen in Taman Khidmat as rust had eaten through the base of an electricity pole along a road in the area. “We may have to endure a lengthy power outage as and when the pole collapses,” he said. He said the poor condition of the structure gave him the impression that little to no maintenance had been carried out on most of the SESB installations around the neighbourhood.
If this Kolombong power pole collapses, residents in Taman Khidmat are likely to experience a lengthy blackout.
Steve appealed to the management to address his concerns as soon as possible before its customers were unduly inconvenienced by a blackout. Meanwhile, a technical problem rendered the streetlights along Lorong Budaya, in Luyang, out of order for some time recently. A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said the contractor responsible for maintaining the lights found faulty connections between the wires servicing some of these facilities. “The others were found to have a blown fuse,” he said. “One of our sky-masters was deployed to the area so that these irregularities could be dealt with.” He said the contractor was instructed to make periodic checks of the lights there to ensure that the public areas along the road were properly lit. The spokesman advised rate-payers staying in the area to alert City Hall directly about any problems involving the amenities there, including the lights. “This will enable to attend to these problems as soon as possible.” VERON, who lives in Taman BPL, said several lights along her housing road had been inoperative for months. “This stretch leads to a dead end and the lack of illumination is a cause of concern because there are no houses nearby,” she said. “I fear unscrupulous parties might take advantage of the situation to carry out misdeeds, if the light is not restored soon.” Veron said she had seen a lot of unfamiliar individuals, including foreigners, walking along the stretch over the past few months. “I first noticed this after construction work began on an empty piece of land next to my neighbourhood. “Lately, I see more and more of these individuals accessing the area.”
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