City Hall to monitor faulty streetlights in Kolombong, Inanam
Published on: Friday, January 26, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
A skymaster was deployed to assist in efforts to replace the lantern along Lorong Kingfisher 2.
CITY HALL will step up its surveillance of a road leading to some Kolombong commercial centres, as well as the stretches around an Inanam neighbourhood, to ensure that they are properly illuminated at night.
This follows separate feedback from a driver whose office is based at the Kolombong-BDC Industrial Estate, and another living in Taman Kingfisher, about the inoperative streetlights in their areas, some of which had been out of order for months.
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The first driver said the road in Kolombong also provided access to the BSA Commercial Complex and Sedco Light Industrial Estate.
The contractor’s staff installing one of the new globes and lanterns at the playground in Taman Kingfisher Phase 5.
They provided Hotline with the locations of those sections which were pitch black after dark. This information was forwarded to the agency.
A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said the contractor, tasked with maintaining its public lighting, went to Jalan Mangga and several “lorongs” in Taman Kingfisher, shortly after becoming aware of these problems.
He said the mechanisms inside the control panel servicing the lights along the former road were found to have tripped.
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“The contractor’s workers reset the system and replaced a 150watt son tube, a 150watt ballast and two sets of ignitors,” he said.
In the case of Taman Kingfisher, they found that some of the lights around the playground in Phase 5 and one, off Lorong 22, were not coming on, according to him.
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“The faulty components were removed and new 16inch globes and 70watt lanterns were installed at the playground. This was done for eight lights here.”
“The technicians also replaced the lantern outside the front gate of a house on Lorong 22.”
He said the contractor tested the lights in the housing area and in Kolombong during the day, as well as at night, with a skymaster deployed to facilitate these checks.
“His staff monitored all the roads in these areas, on and off, for a week, before confirming that there nothing was amiss with these amenities.
“Nevertheless, we have asked him to make regular inspections to ensure that these stretches are adequately lit.”
CHENG, who lives in Taman Kingfisher, said the patches of darkness on her housing road made her uneasy about driving home after dark.
She has noticed that many of the streetlights seemed to function intermittently.
The mechanisms inside the control panel for the lights at the playground in the midst of being reset.
“One of my neighbours highlighted the lack of illumination to City Hall at one stage, and the lights came back on again shortly afterwards,” she said.
Within less than a week, however, these amenities were out of order again, according to her.
Cheng said her friend had wearied of constantly having to inform the agency about the lights.
“Many of the lights around the playground have also been rendered out of order.”
“I personally informed City Hall about this situation at the beginning of November but two months later the affected lights still had not been restored.”
She was made to understand that two reminders had been sent to the contractor over the interim period, when she followed up on her earlier complaint.
Cheng was at a loss to understand how the agency could have turned a blind eye to the streetlight woes there.
“There have been several break-ins in the neighbourhood,” she said.
“I fear that unscrupulous parties may be taking advantage of the lack of illumination along the road to carry out these misdeeds.”
She said one home was burglarised early last month with the thieves making away with RM40,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, gold chain and two costly mobile devices.
SHAROM of Penampang, on the other hand, bemoaned the hazards of driving back from his workplace in Kolombong at night.
“It is difficult to gauge any sudden movement from drivers coming in the opposite direction, let alone pedestrians who may be crossing the road, when many of the streetlights are out of order,” he said.
“The visibility of drivers using Jalan Mangga is further hampered during a downpour.
“I fear that someone might be run down, or a bad accident might occur, if the local authorities do not intervene.”
Sharom said the safety of road-users, including motorcyclists like himself, was compromised further because of the bends in the road.
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