City Hall, SESB monitoring Kebajikan, Sinulihan lights
Published on: Friday, June 11, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
.jpg "City Hall, SESB monitoring Kebajikan, Sinulihan lights")
The mechanism inside the control panel for the lights was double-checked at night to ensure everything was in order
CITY HALL and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) are keeping an eye on the streetlights on Jalan Kebajikan and the road leading to Kg Sinulihan, following complaints about the lack of maintenance carried out on these amenities.A Luyang driver expressed her concern about the traffic hazards posed by the unlit section between two junctions on the former road.
ADVERTISEMENT
An Inanam homeowner, on the other hand, fears that a damaged pole along the latter might fall over and damage her property.
They provided Hotline with the location of the affected lights which was forwarded to City Hall and SESB.
A spokesman for the City Hall’s Engineering Department said the agency would try to ensure that Jalan Kebajikan was properly illuminated at night.
He said City Hall would step up its surveillance efforts between the Jalan Kolam-Jalan Kebajikan and Jalan Kebajikan-Jalan Sang Kancil junctions after the lights in this section malfunctioned twice last month.
The contractor’s staff checking on the cables for the streetlights on Jalan Kebajikan.
ADVERTISEMENT
“A ‘cabling fault’ caused short circuits during the more recent outage towards the end of May,” he said.
“We suspect that this could have been triggered by a branch which may have either fallen onto, or touched, the line for the lights.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Prior to this, a problem with the timer for some of the lights was partly to blame for the breakdown in the first week of May.
He suspected that the device might have been damaged by a power surge.
“The faulty sensor was replaced and the timer was reset, shortly after we became aware of the lighting woes.”
He said, at the time, a “blown fuse” also rendered these facilities inoperative in another part of the same road.
The spokesman said the contractor, tasked with attending to the lights, monitored the “trouble spots” for several days in June, following the second outage.
“The lights between the junctions did not breakdown during this period.
“Nevertheless, we have asked him to make regular checks of Jalan Kebajikan and the adjoining roads here to ensure that the illumination does not fail again.”
SESB would have its staff do the same for the company’s installations around Inanam, including those electricity poles which had streetlights attached to them, according to a spokeswoman.
She said an inspection was made of the access road leading to Kg Sinulihan, a few days after SESB was contacted by the media.
“Any which were beyond repair, such as the one outside the complainant’s home, were replaced,” she said.
“Action was also taken to fortify the base of some of the poles to prevent them from leaning over.”
The spokeswoman said SESB personnel were asked to be more mindful of any problems involving the poles there in future to prevent this problem from recurring.
“Our customers in the area can also help us in this regard.
“They should alert us directly of any irregularities involving our installations so that action can be taken to attend to such matters as soon as possible.”
CHERYLNN of Karamunsing said many of the lights, between the Shell Kiosk and the junction to Jalan Sang Kancil, had been out of order for over a month.
“Drivers risk colliding with the approaching traffic coming round the bend,” she said.
“This situation is especially hazardous when it rains heavily.”
Rust had eaten through the base of the previous streetlight.
She said portions of the adjoining roads, including one that passed Maktab Gaya and led to the Carmelite monastery, were also unlit.
“I hope the local authorities will restore the lights soon before drivers or pedestrians come to harm.”
ANIKA, who lives in Kg Sinulihan, said several of the electricity poles looked as if they could fall over at any time.
“The bottom of many of these structures has been eaten away by rust,” she said.
“I fear that some vehicles might be damaged, or worse still a passer-by might be injured, if any of these poles topple over.”
She said a few of these poles were leaning over dangerously.
“I suspect that the weight of the overhead lines, attached to the structures, may be more than the latter can support.
“Thankfully, the one outside my front gate hasn’t fallen over eventhough there is a hole in the section of the pole which is closer to the ground.
“I suspect that the cables on either side may be helping to hold it up.”
Anika said one of her neighbour’s reported the irregularities involving the poles to SESB a few years ago.
“An officer from the firm came to the area, at the time, and took some photographs.
“So far, however, nothing has been done to either set the poles back aright or to replace those which have been damaged.”
She hoped SESB would act on this problem as soon as possible before any of these structures collapsed.
“If the poles topple, me and the other consumers living along the road will surely have our power supply disrupted. “Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
