New Hanover street lights go missing

WESTERN BUREAU:

Eight of the 10 street lights which were recently installed along the Orange Bay to Negril roadway in Hanover have been stolen. The lights were erected in response to pleas from residents and motorists, who were faced with the difficulty of navigating the treacherous two-kilometre stretch of road at nights.

Over the years, several pedestrians, pedal cyclists, and motorcyclists have been killed in night-time accidents along the heavily trafficked roadway, which is the primary thoroughfare leading to the resort town of Negril.

Three of the lights that were installed in March but not yet energised were stolen in October. Six weeks later, another five were stolen, leaving just two of the original 10 lights, which is clearly inadequate to illuminate the roadway.

Marvell Sewell, councillor for the Green Island division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), who lobbied for the street lights, is blaming the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), saying the company was aware that the lights were non-functioning since the beginning of September, and had they made the necessary repairs and re-energised the power lines to the lights, they probably would not have been stolen.

“It’s now December. I reported the non-functioning lights in October, and to date nothing has been done,” said Sewell. “I am so upset to see that that stretch of road has gone right back to square one. It looks to me as if it is an act of sabotage, as it is going to be four months now and I cannot hear anything from anyone.”

Sewell said he will be having discussions with Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is also the chairman of the HMC, to seek guidance as to how to proceed in having the matter rectified.

When contacted, Detommie Fuller, area manager for the JPSCo, told The Gleaner that she was aware of the first three lights that went missing, but was not aware that five more lights have been removed. She also said she was aware of problems being experienced with the power supply to the lights along the affected corridor.

Fuller said contact has been made with the team dealing with street lights, and arrangements are being made to remedy the situation in Orange Bay.

“We are still finalising some details with the team, but sufficient to say, as I said, I was not aware that additional lights have been removed. However, we are making the arrangements for all the necessary work to be done to have the lights replaced and re-energised by the end of the week,” said Fuller. “While the JPSCo is not moving away from its responsibility to repair the lights when they go out, more attention needs to be paid to the fact that the lights were stolen.”

Fuller said thieves have been quite active across the island since the start of the year, stealing over 500 lights, as well as other JPS properties.

“We raised the issue earlier this year. It’s not just lights. We have had incidents of transformers being stolen; the wires for those lights (in Orange Bay) were stolen before we were able to put them up. We did repairs on the elegant corridor (in Montego Bay) and the wires were stolen three times in one week,” said Fuller.