MORE than a year on, City Hall is finally improving the public lighting in part of Tanjung Aru following feedback about break-ins at two homes on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1.
The individuals who highlighted these irregularities provided Hotline with the pertinent details, which were forwarded to the agency.
A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said the contractor appointed to upgrade the lights in Tanjung Aru took control of the site on Monday.
“He has been given eight weeks to complete the work, which involves putting up or retrofitting a total of 37 lights on six roads in the housing area near the town,” he said.
Two homes on this poorly lit road in Tanjung Aru were broken into last year.
These stretches include Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1, Jalan Rumah Pangsa 2, Jalan Murni, Jalan Ralph Hone, Jalan Murai and Jalan Pavitt Place.
The 22 new single-arm lights will be erected, while retrofitting works will be carried out on 10 single-arm poles and five mounted poles.
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He said the improvement effort was being funded by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
“We had initially hoped to secure an allocation from the State Government. A politician wrote to us in April last year about preparing a Bill of Quantities (BQ) to implement this urgent project.
“We submitted all the necessary documentation to the ministry a month later.”
The roads named in the paperwork included Jalan Murni, Jalan Murai, Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1, Jalan Rumah Pangsa 2, Jalan Sir Ralph Hone, Jalan Datuk Willie, Jalan Kampung Tanjung Aru and Jalan Balai, according to him.
The spokesman said that, as of December, City Hall had only received approval to install new lights on Jalan Kampung Tanjung Aru and Jalan Balai.
LOVIE of Tanjung Aru said the lack of illumination on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 made her uneasy about driving home at night.
She said the streetlights on the road appeared to function intermittently.
“One of my neighbours highlighted the lack of illumination to City Hall at one stage, and the lights came back on shortly afterwards,” she said.
Within a few days, however, the lights were out of order again.
Lovie said her home and those of her neighbours were burglarised last year.
“My home was burglarised early in 2025, with the thieves making away with a laptop, handphone, sling bag, piggy bank, a crystal bracelet and several pieces of gold jewellery which were presented to me on my wedding day.
“The bad hats entered through my kitchen window in the wee hours while my family and I 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 near pitch-black conditions along the road to carry out these misdeeds.
Another Tanjung Aru resident, SHANG, echoed Lovie’s concerns, saying he was the victim of a home invasion in February last year.
“The intruder drove up in an unregistered vehicle at 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 grille to my house.”
Fortunately, he did not succeed and left without further incident.
“All this was captured on one of my neighbour’s CCTV cameras.”
When he reported the incident to the police, Shang appealed to the officer taking down the report to consider having his colleagues patrol Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1 more frequently to discourage trespassers from targeting other homes along the road.
The spokesman said a check of City Hall’s records showed that there were only two streetlights on Jalan Rumah Pangsa 1, where the incidents occurred.
“Our electrical contractor inspected these lights earlier this month, with any damaged bulbs and photocells replaced where necessary.”
When asked how often these amenities were maintained, he said this was done as and when necessary.
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