CITY HALL is in the midst of improving the illumination along the jogging track at the Tun Fuad Stephens Botanical Park in the Bukit Padang area and will step up efforts to maintain the public lighting in a Luyang neighbourhood and another in Kepayan.
A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said a total of 102 new lights, which used LEDs [Light Emitting Diodes], had been erected along the two kilometre track.
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“They have been put up at 15metre intervals and have a stronger wattage than the previous lights which were of a HPS [High Pressure Sodium] variety,” he said.
He said a new wiring system had been put in place to service the “enhanced compound lighting”, which was designed by a consultant who was specially engaged for the task.
The individual went to great lengths to calculate the precise brightness of the lights needed to keep the track properly lit, according to him.
“Action to upgrade the lights began even before the Park was reopened in October.
“We are entering the final stages of the installation, after which the new lights will have to be tested and commissioned.”
On a jogger’s observations about the electrocution hazards posed by the exposed wires which he had spotted along some parts of the track, the spokesman explained that these service lines belonged to the previous lighting system.
“The public would not have been harmed if they accidentally came in contact with the cables.
“These were not live wires. There was no electricity running through them as they had been removed from the power source.”
He said the contractor, appointed to carry out the lighting project at the Park, had since removed these unwanted cables and any other remnants from the previous system.
The old system supported over 40 HPS lights, according to him.
Meanwhile, damage to several components rendered the streetlights outside homes in Taman Seputih and Taman Bunga Raya out of order recently, according to the spokesman.
He said there was a cabling-issue and problem with the lanterns servicing the affected lights on Lorong Nibung 7 at the former housing area in Luyang.
“Where Taman Bunga Raya, in Kepayan, was concerned, the ballast and bulbs for a few lights on Lorong Bunga Payung were found to have burnt out,” he said.
He said a sky-master was deployed to facilitate the repairs at both locations, shortly after City Hall was contacted by the media.
“A check of our records showed that the Taman Bunga Raya rate-payer contacted us on December 2. The homeowner in Taman Seputih did the same on January 5.
“At the time, our technicians were informed to deal with each of these irregularities.
“For whatever reason, however, their problems went overlooked and were only attended to earlier this month.”
The respective contractors had since been chided for the months’ long delay in settling these cases, according to him.
“We have asked them to buck up and be more prompt in fulfilling their responsibilities, when it comes to looking after the streetlights in Taman Seputih and Taman Bunga Raya, so that such hold-ups do not recur.
“Our senior staff will be monitoring their progress to ensure that the contractors comply with these instructions.”
