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THE Public Works Department (PWD) is checking on the structural integrity of the decorative lights which hang down from the middle of the curved arches on Jalan Istiadat, in Likas, and is trying to restore the illumination on the section of Jalan Sipitang Bypass near the junction to Kg Muhibbah.

City Hall, on the other hand, has vowed to step up efforts to maintain the streetlights around Luyang, including those at the base of the hill on which the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex is situated, as well as along the section of Jalan Kebajikan between the junctions to Taman Lumaku and Jalan Kolam.

This action was prompted by feedback from road-users about the poor night-time driving experience in parts of Sipitang and Luyang.

A Likas motorist, meanwhile, spokeout about the potential hazards posed by the lights on the underside of the arches near the Bay Suites residential property, off Jalan Istiadat. 

The lower half of the central stem, around which the lights were arranged, recently snapped off from the hanging, according to him, and fell onto the divider below. 

He said it was fortunate no one was hurt when this took place. However, the driver said there was every likelihood that more of the metal stem could come away, putting any pedestrians who might be caught underneath at risk.

There are two sets of decorative arches on the median which extends for about 745metres between the Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens junction to the roundabout on Jalan Kompleks Sukan.

The drivers provided Hotline with the pertinent information, regarding their grievances, which was forwarded to the respective agencies.

A PWD spokesman said a check was made of Jalan Istiadat, shortly after it was contacted by the media.

“Our technicians removed the broken half of the metal stem from the median,” he said. 

“We are in the midst of deliberating over how best to deal with the problem involving the decorative lights at the two arches on the road.”

He said a check of the PWD’s records showed that Jalan Istiadat was listed in its road register.

“Nevertheless, the streetlights along the stretch are under City Hall’s jurisdiction. We wanted to handover responsibility for the arches, including the decorative lights, to this authority.”

He said a letter to this affect was sent to City Hall last year.

A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department acknowledged receipt of this document, saying that the agency had turned down the PWD’s request to look after the arches.

Where the junction to Kg Muhibbah was concerned, a spokeswoman for the Department said a preliminary inspection was made of the affected section of Jalan Sipitang Bypass on Tuesday.

“Our personnel checked on the control panel for the lights here and found that power was not reaching the mechanisms inside,” she said.

“Sabah Electricity has been informed about this irregularity. We are working with the company to resolve this problem.” 

The Sipitang District Council was initially contacted about the public lighting woes at the junction. 

A Council spokesman said it was helpless to intervene on this matter as it was no longer looked after the lights around the town.

“We relinquished responsibility for these amenities to the PWD some time ago,” he said.

In the case of the Court Complex and Jalan Kebajikan, the City Hall spokesman said bad hats were to blame for the unlit sections at both locations.

“Over 50metres of the amoured cable, servicing the lights at the base of the hill were found to have been removed,” he said. “This was most likely the work of metal thieves.” 

He said the missing supply line had a “copper 2 core” and diameter of 10millimetres. An errant motorist, meanwhile, ran into a streetlight post on Jalan Kebajikan, according to him.

“A 30metre span of cable snapped in two when the pole fell.”

He said its electrical contractor replaced the damaged fixtures in these areas.

“On top of this, four sets of 250watt lanterns were changed for the lights at the bottom of the hill. The same was done for one set on Jalan Kebajikan.”

A sky-master was deployed to facilitate this effort, according to him.

“Two separate checks were made of the lights near the Court Complex over a 10-day period this month to ensure that these amenities remained operational.”