DBKK acts on public lighting
Published on: Friday, January 20, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
New cables were installed in place of the ones which had been cut.
City Hall technicians have been asked to be more mindful about the public-lighting in one part of Dah Yeh Villa and along the main road between City Mall and the Latitude 6 commercial centre.This action was prompted by feedback from two drivers about the hazards posed by the lack of illumination at both locations at night.
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They provided Hotline with the location of the inoperative streetlights. This information was forwarded to the agency.
A spokesman for its Engineering Department said damaged components were to blame for these problems, with the lights near City Mall and Latitude 6 having been vandalised.
He said the cable, concealed behind the “service door”, for several of these amenities was found to have been cut.
“Whoever did this likely thought that the cables were made of copper and gave up when they found that they were aluminium instead,” he said.
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“The thieves may have intended to sell the copper as used-metal.”
He said the contractor, tasked with maintaining the streetlights within City Hall’s rating-area, had replaced the damaged cables.
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“His workers also double-checked that the control panel for lights was working as it should. We have asked this individual to be on the lookout for anyone who tampers with these amenities or any of the related installations.”
He said those caught “red-handed” would be handed over to the Police.
In the case of Dah Yeh Villa, the spokesman said the photocells for some of the lights were found to have been compromised.
“These components were replaced and any loose or faulty connections were attended to at the same time.”
He said the contractor monitored the “trouble spots”, in each instance, for several days afterwards.
“The lights did not breakdown during this period. Nevertheless, we have asked him to make regular checks of the track to ensure that the illumination does not fail again.”
SUE-ANN of Luyang said the streetlights on the divider in the middle of Jalan Lintas, from City Mall to Latitude 6, had been out of order for almost two weeks.
She decried the difficulty which drivers faced in gauging the movement of pedestrians, let alone vehicles, with such a lengthy section of the stretch unlit at night.
“Drivers risk colliding with the oncoming traffic while trying to make U-turns, as without the streetlights, it becomes hard to tell the speed and distance of vehicles coming from the opposite direction,” she said.
“The situation becomes even worse if it rains heavily.”
Sue-Ann said she almost ran into a car beside hers during a downpour on a recent weeknight.
“I had signalled to change lanes but I did not realise that the other vehicle was so close to me because it was so dark.”
The motorist, who lives in Golf Villa, said she used Jalan Lintas regularly as she worked at an eatery at Latitude 6.
She hoped the relevant authority would act to ensure that the lights were operational before anything unpleasant happened to motorists or pedestrians using the road.
Another Luyang rate-payer, ALVYNNA, bemoaned the patches of darkness between the roundabout – near a row of shophouses in Dah Yeh Villa – and the junction to her housing area nearby.
She said the streetlights in the unlit portions of the road seemed to function on some nights, while on others they did not.
“There have been instances where one or two of them have inoperative for days,” she said.
“This has been going on for the past few months.”
Some of her neighbours had noticed this too and related their observations to City Hall, according to her.
“We have seen workers dealing with the lights, or the cables connected to them, on multiple occasions since September.
“After they leave, the road is always well lit. But this only lasts for a few weeks as then the brightness becomes spotty again.”
Alvynna feared that unscrupulous parties might take advantage of the situation to break into homes in the area.
“Worse still, these bad hats could rob or harm those walking back at night.”
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