Thorough checks on streetlights
Published on: Thursday, March 16, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
Action was taken to deal with the public-lighting irregularities on this divider near City Mall.
CITY HALL will double down on the night-time surveillance of the main road from Taman Tun Fuad Stephens heading towards the Minintod area, as well as the stretches around the Lintas flyover.This follows feedback from three drivers that many of the streetlights in these areas had been inoperative for months.
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They provided Hotline with the dark sections of the roads in question, which were forwarded to the agency.
City Hall checked that these lights on Jalan Kolam were working as they should.
An Engineering Department spokesman said the contractor – tasked with maintaining the public lighting around City Hall’s rating area – had been alerted to the patches of darkness in these places.
He said technical faults were behind the lack of illumination in each instance.
He said two separate sections of the overhead cable, servicing the lights along the incline behind Taman Tun Fuad Stephens, as well as a bulb for one these amenities was replaced.
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“The contractor also dealt with a ‘contactor’ and the timer inside the control panel for these amenities,” he said.
He said the individual’s workers tested the lights during the day and went back again at night, with a skymaster deployed to facilitate the latter check.
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In the case of the dividers on Jalan Kolam – before the junction to the Luyang Commercial Centre – and on the Kolombong Ring Road – near City Mall – the spokesman said the contractor changed the damaged components in these respective areas.
“His staff monitored all these roads, on and off, for a week, before confirming that there was nothing amiss with the lights.
“Nevertheless, we have asked him to make regular inspections to ensure that these stretches are properly illuminated.”
SHERYLYNN of Penampang bemoaned the hazards of driving back to Country Heights Apartments, from her workplace in Kolombong, at night.
“It is difficult to gauge any sudden movement from drivers coming in the opposite direction, let alone pedestrians who may be crossing the road, when many of the streetlights are out of order,” she said.
The maintenance contractor’s workers testing the lights on Jalan Kolam-Minintod during the day.
“The visibility of drivers going up the slope from Taman Tun Fuad Stephens is further hampered during a downpour.
“I fear that someone might be run down, or a bad accident might occur, if the local authorities do not intervene.”
Sherylynn said the safety of road-users, including motorcyclists like herself, was compromised further because of the blind curves in parts of Jalan Kolam-Minintod.
MIMI, who lives in Sokid Villa, echoed these concerns. She said the patches of darkness on the stretch, near the turn off to the neighbourhood, made her uneasy about driving home after dark.
A skymaster was deployed to assist with the checks that took place at night.
She has noticed that many of the streetlights seemed to function intermittently.
“One of my neighbours highlighted the lack of illumination to City Hall at one stage, and the lights came back on again shortly afterwards.”
Within less than a week, however, these amenities were out of order again, according to her.
Mimi said her friend had wearied of constantly having to inform the agency about the lights.
KRISTOFF of Luyang, on the other hand, was unhappy about the unlit sections of the section of the Kolombong Ring-Road, heading towards City Mall and the junction to VIP Lots.
“Many of the lights on the divider have been out of order for some time,” he said.
“The situation is especially dangerous if it rains heavily as you might unknowingly encroach into the lane next to you and wind up colliding with the driver in that lane,” he said.
The contractor’s staff dealt with the faulty components inside this control panel for the Jalan Kolam-Minintod lights.
Kristoff hoped the relevant agency would act to ensure that the lights functioned as they should before anything unpleasant happened to the hundreds of drivers who travelled between Lintas and Kolombong daily
City Hall personnel confirmed that parts of Jalan Kolam and the Lintas-Kolombong Ring Road – near the Lintas flyover – were unlit during an inspection carried out after it learned about Kristoff’s grievance.
The spokesman said the Public Works Department was informed about these observations.
“This is the most City Hall can do as the lights in these areas are not under our jurisdiction.”
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