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CITY Hall is keeping an eye on the public lighting between roundabouts in Karamunsing and Luyang – as well as the section of the main road between the Foh Sang traffic lights and the junction to Taman Fu Yen – to ensure that the roads in these areas are properly lit at night.

A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said its electrical contractor had been asked to make regular checks of the streetlights along a 1.1-kilometre span, from the roundabout on the Bukit Nenas flyover to the one at the junction leading to the Gaya College.

He said the stretches which fell between the flyover and the College included, Jalan Bertingkat Bukit Nenas, the section of Jalan Kolam near the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex, Jalan Kebajikan and Jalan Maktab Gaya.

“Part of the cable servicing the lights on the flyover was replaced recently as it was found to have been burnt out,” he said. “A loose neutral connection was found to be triggering a ‘standard transmission line’-trip.”

Where the lights on Jalan Kebajikan and Jalan Maktab Gaya were concerned, he said a section of the 16-milimetre aluminium PVC cable along the former was found to have snapped in two.

“The contractor’s personnel replaced a 50-metre length of the affected overhead line. They later attended to four ‘line taps’ on the second stretch.”

He said the severed cable looked as if it might have caught on the branches of the overgrown trees in the vicinity.

“Our Landscaping peers were apprised of this observation. We called on them to have the trees pruned to prevent the public lighting in this part of Luyang from being disrupted.”  

A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Landscaping Department said a team with its Tree Unit, subsequently, dealt with the greenery along a 166m span of Jalan Kebajikan.

“Ten of our workers, some armed with chainsaws, pruned those branches which had encroached into the airspace of the lights along the road,” she said. “One of our skylifts and a six-tonne open truck was deployed to facilitate these efforts.”

When asked how often the trees there were trimmed, she said such maintenance was carried out on an ad hoc basis, as and when it was needed.

“Nevertheless, in the interest of ensuring that the streetlights remain operational and in good order, our staff have been asked to keep an eye on the condition of this greenery and to deal with any irregularities accordingly.”

In the case of the lights on a 356m span of Jalan Kolam between the Foh Sang traffic lights and the Jalan Angsa junction, the spokesman said 11 of the 13 in this section were found to be out of order.

He said there were five single-armed lights on either side of the main road and eight double-armed ones on the divider. 

“The contractor’s workers dealt with some of the 250watt ballasts and ignitors servicing these amenities.”

He said a “ballast” regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns.

An “ignitor”, meanwhile, functioned as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow, according to him.

The spokesman said the contractor conducted a day-time test along each of the affected roads to check if the lights were coming on as they should.

“He, later, returned at night to gauge if these stretches were adequately illuminated.”

The individual monitored the “trouble spots” for several days afterwards, according to him.

“None of the lights in these places broke down during either of these periods. “Nevertheless, we called on the contractor to step up the night-time surveillance in these areas for the benefit of the hundreds of drivers who use these roads daily.”