Streetlights on during the day but not at night
Published on: Friday, May 10, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
A worker with the electrical contractor in the midst of changing some of the mechanisms inside this streetlight panel on Lorong Pokok Seraya 5.
City Hall will step up checks on the streetlights along a section of Jalan Lintas-Kolombong and Lorong Pokok Seraya 5.
An Inanam resident, on the other hand, hopes that Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) will do likewise for the lights along Jalan Kionsom Lama and Jalan Kg Tebobon.
ADVERTISEMENT
This follows feedback about the traffic hazards posed by the lack of illumination on these respective stretches.
In the case of Jalan Lintas-Kolombong, the lights were coming on during the day but not at night.
The streetlights on the divider in this part of Jalan Lintas-Kolombong were observed to be coming on during the day.
A Kolombong road-user found this situation unacceptable, in view of calls from SESB for consumers to conserve electricity by curbing any unnecessary use of their supply.
The individual was dismayed that a local authority would allow such “wastage”.
ADVERTISEMENT
These streetlight grievances were forwarded to City Hall and SESB.
A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said its electrical contractor was alerted to the irregularities involving the public lighting on the main road – near Taman Iramanis – as well as the Kolombong stretch which extended from the roundabout near the Neutron Point building to the commercial centre in Taman Khidmat.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said a check of both locations revealed that some of the lighting fixtures were damaged.
“Repairs were made on the spot,” he said. “Some faulty ‘contactors’ were replaced as part of this work. A sky-master was deployed to facilitate efforts to have the lights restored.”
He said the amenities were tested that same day after they had been dealt with to confirm that they were operating as they should.
“The contractor kept both roads under surveillance at night for a week afterwards.
“During that time, he confirmed that nothing was amiss with these lights.”
The spokesman said there were about 20 of these amenities on Lorong Pokok Seraya 5 which extended for 635 metres from the Neutron Point roundabout to the Taman Khidmat shops.
Where Jalan Lintas-Kolombong was concerned, the spokesman said the individual also replaced the timer for the lights on a divider which measured about 567m in length.
“The old timer had become faulty and was not functioning properly. Owing to this, these amenities were not coming on and going off as they were meant to.”
The spokesman regretted the electricity wastage, saying that City Hall staff would endeavour to step up their surveillance of the lights along the main road.
“We hope, in this way, to minimise the likelihood of the power being pointlessly used like this in future.”
Meanwhile, he said the contractor’s staff went to Jalan Kionsom Lama and Jalan Tebobon but were unable to do anything about the lights on both stretches as these amenities were not under the agency’s jurisdiction.
“They noticed that the serial numbers for the lights were painted in red which is an indicator that the lights may belong to SESB,” he said.
A spokesman for the company said the relevant section had been made aware of these observations.
“We will have to determine if the lights are indeed being maintained by us,” he said.
“If this is so, then action will be taken to have them restored as soon as possible.”
CHANTELL of Kolombong was driving down Jalan Lintas-Kolombong around noon on a recent Monday, when she noticed that the lights on the divider were operational.
“I wonder who is shouldering the charges for this extravagant use of electricity,” she asked.
“Is City Hall going to fork out for this usage?”
She said for several days prior, the section of the main road between Taman Iramanis and the junction to Neutron Point had been shrouded in darkness.
PEETA of Inanam said Jalan Kionsom Lama and Jalan Tebobon had been largely unit at night “for months”.
“Drivers using these roads have to strain to tell if anyone is trying to cross these roads at night,” he said.
He claimed to have reported the problem with the lights to SESB’s Careline last month but, so far, both stretches were still pitch black after sundown.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
.jpg)
.jpg)
