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CITY Hall is set to improve the public lighting on eight roads around Tanjung Aru and is keeping tabs on the condition of the streetlights on five stretches around two Luyang commercial centres.

This follows feedback about the break-ins which had occurred at two homes on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 at the first location, as well as the traffic hazards posed by the patches of darkness around Lintas Plaza and Lintas Square at the latter. 

The individuals, who spoke out about these irregularities, provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding these problems. This information was forwarded to the agency.

A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said it was in the midst of putting together the necessary paperwork to have solar lights put up along several road reserves in Tanjung Aru, including those off Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1, Jalan Rumah Pangsa 2 and Jalan Datuk Willie.

“We have received an allocation from the government to carry out this improvement,” he said. 

“A check of our records shows that there are only two streetlights each on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1, Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 and Jalan Datuk Willie.”

LOVIE of Tanjung Aru said the lack of illumination on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 made her uneasy about driving home at night.

She has noticed that the streetlights on the road 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,” she said. Within a few days, however, these amenities were out of order again, according to her.

She said there had been several break-ins in this part of the town. 

“My home was burglarised early this year, with the thieves making away with a laptop, handphone, sling bag, piggy bank, a crystal bracelet and several pieces of gold jewellery which I were presented to me on my wedding day.

“The bad hats entered through my kitchen window in the wee hours while me and my family were sleeping. Thankfully, none of us were harmed while they were looting the place.”

She feared that unscrupulous parties might be taking advantage of the almost pitch black darkness on the housing road to carry out these misdeeds.

Another Tanjung Aru resident, one SHANG, echoed Lovie’s concerns, saying that he was a victim of home invasion in February.

“The intruder drove up in an unregistered vehicle around 4am and entered my compound. He switched off the lights in my car porch and behind my house. 

“The individual also covered the spotlight in my front yard with a piece of clothing, before trying to pry open the front grill to my house.”

Fortunately, he did not succeed and left without further incident, according to him. 

“All this was captured on one of my neighbour’s CCTVs (Closed Circuit Televisions).

“When he reported what transpired to the Police, Shang appealed to the officer, who took down these details, to consider having his colleagues patrol Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 more often to discourage trespassers from entering other homes along the road.

In the case of the streetlights in Lintas Plaza and Lintas Square, the spokesman said its electrical contractor was alerted to the breakdown of the amenities servicing both Luyang commercial centres.

He said a check of these properties revealed that some of the lighting fixtures were damaged.

Repairs were made shortly thereafter, with the contractor’s workers changing a 60-amp contactor, a 40-amp contactor, 14 150-watt lanterns, 10 250-watt ballasts, 14 150-watt ballasts, 20 ignitors and four “e40 holders”, according to him. 

“They also replaced a 120 metre length of aluminium cable with a 16milimetre diameter and a 30 metre length of a ‘twinflat’ line with a 2.5mm diameter,” he said.

He explained that a “contactor” was a type of switch for repeatedly opening and closing an electric circuit. 

A “ballast” regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns, according to him

He said an “ignitor”, meanwhile, functioned as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow.

“A sky-master was deployed to facilitate efforts to have the lights restored.”

He said these amenities were tested that same afternoon after they had been dealt with to confirm that they were operational.

“The contractor kept the stretch under surveillance at night for a week afterwards.  During that time, he confirmed that nothing was amiss with these lights.”