DBKK stepping up efforts on streetlight woes

Daily Express

29-05-2025

Published on: Thursday, May 29, 2025
Published on: Thu, May 29, 2025
By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: Repairs were made to the faulty fixtures along several housing roads around Bandar Sierra. City Hall will step up efforts to check on the public lighting on several roads between Kolombong and Manggatal to ensure that that the common areas along these stretches are properly illuminated at night. This follows feedback from three road-users about the poor night-time driving experience on Jalan Kilang, Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran and housing roads in Bandar Sierra. They provided Hotline with the pertinent details, related to their separate concerns, which were forwarded to the agency. A spokesman for the City Hall's Engineering Department said its electrical contractor was alerted to the streetlight woes along the affected roads. He said two inspections were made of Jalan Kilang over the span of two weeks recently. 'A faulty contactor in one the control panels was changed during the first check,' he said.
Advertisement He explained that a 'contactor' was a type of switch for repeatedly opening and closing an electric circuit. 'When the technicians returned about 14 days later, they replaced two 150watt lanterns, two 250watt lanterns, five 250watt ballasts, six line taps and a 120metre length of a 16milimetre cable.' He said a skymaster was deployed to facilitate these repairs. A 'ballast' regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns, according to him. Given as how the lights had twice been rendered inoperative, he said, the contractor kept the road under surveillance for a period afterwards, before confirming that everything was in order. He said Jalan Kilang covered a distance of some 1.83kilometres from the roundabout on Jalan Mangga and another on Jalan Lintas Khidmat. 'Where the divider at Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran was involved, the contractor and his team attended to a faulty contactor and Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) in the control panel for the lights.' 'We were made to understand that the U-turn on the main road in the Seri Warisan area had been unlit for some time.' He elaborated that a MCB prevented electrical hazards by detecting and interrupting abnormal currents and short circuits. 'A follow-up check was made three weeks later, during which time the lights were found to be out of order. 'The contractor replaced two 250watt lanterns, two 250watt ballasts and four line taps in this instance.' He said the individual kept tabs on the public lighting in this part of Jalan Tuaran on and off over the coming weeks to ensure that the section of the road near the U-turn was properly illuminated at night. On top of this, the spokesman said four service lines, three ballasts, four 'ignitors' and four lanterns were replaced in the residential area at Bandar Sierra. 'An 'ignitor' functions as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow.' He said the related fixtures were found to be malfunctioning along Lorong Sierra 1/ 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1B and Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B. 'All the lights on Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B, which extends for about 167metres, were found to have broken down.' He said the contractor did a day-time test, at the time, to ensure that these amenities were coming on as they should. 'He also went back after dark to determine if the road was adequately lit.' When asked how often maintenance was carried out on those streetlights under City Hall's jurisdiction, the spokesman said there was no fixed-schedule for this work. 'These amenities are attended to as and when it becomes necessary to do so.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia