CITY Hall will increase its surveillance of roads around Telipok, and one in Likas, to ensure that they are properly illuminated at night.
This action follows feedback from a Telipok food operator and Taman Fantasi homeowner about the inoperative streetlights in their respective areas, some of which had been out of order for months.
The first spokeout about the safety hazards posed by the unlit common areas around the town. His concern was not unfounded. A few years ago, one of his elderly patrons stumbled into the exposed section of a covered drain while walking back to his car at night.
The Likas driver, meanwhile, bemoaned the poor experience he had in driving to and from his home after dark. He said it was difficult to gauge if there were vehicles coming from the opposite because the access road to his neighbourhood was unlit.
Both rate-payers hoped that the local authorities would make it a priority to maintain the streetlights before anyone could be injured or worse.
They provided Hotline with the location of those sections which were shrouded in darkness. This information was forwarded to the agency.
A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said its electrical contractor was alerted to the failure of the public lighting in these areas.
Inspections were made of Lorong Pekan Telipok, Lorong Pekan Telipok 2, Lorong Telipok 8 and Lorong Telipok Jaya, according to him, to verify if “more than 30 lights at the back and front” of the shophouse blocks had indeed malfunctioned as the complainant alleged.
He declined to confirm whether so many of lights had actually failed, saying that action was taken to restore those attached to the cantilevers on some of these buildings
“The contractor’s workers dealt with a 150watt lantern, a 150W ‘son tube’ and a timer servicing these amenities,” he said.
They also replaced four ‘ballasts’ and ‘ignitors’ which kept the lights operational, according to him.
He said a “ballast” regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns.
An “ignitor”, on the other hand, functioned as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow, according to him.
The spokesman said a check was also made of the lights around the public carpark near the Telipok Health Clinic and Police beat base for the town.
“The complainant claimed that more than 10 lights here were out of order. On top of this, we were made to understand that the lantern was missing from the single-armed light immediately outside the front gate of the Clinic.
He said the contractor’s personnel replaced this lantern and others for the lights on the periphery of the carpark.
“Additionally, they attended to the faulty ‘contactors’, ‘ballasts’ and ‘ignitors’ for some of these amenities.”
A “contactor” was a type of switch for repeatedly opening and closing an electric circuit, according to him.
He said a sky-lift was deployed to facilitate the efforts in Telipok and Taman Fantasi.
In the case of the latter, the spokesman said repairs were made to the 150W ‘son tubes’ for three lights on Lorong Bunga Matahari 1.
On top of this, action was taken to replace three 150W “ballasts”, three “ignitors” and a ’63 Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) 2p’ in the control panel for the lights, according to him.
He elaborated that a MCB prevented electrical hazards by detecting and interrupting abnormal currents and short circuits.
When asked how often maintenance was carried out on the streetlights around City Hall’s rating-area, the spokesman said there was no fixed schedule for this work.
“The lights are attended as and when it becomes necessary to do so.”
