Ire over Tshwane street lights

Calls have again been made to the Tshwane Metro Council to attend to street lights which are on when they should be off or off when they need to be on.

The Pretoria News has had numerous calls and e-mails from residents complaining about this. According to some, street lights in their areas stay on all night and day, but for others, they don't come on at night.

One of the biggest concerns among residents is that the council is not playing its part in conserving energy while it expects residents to do so.

Another complaint is about the lights on high masts installed by the council at a cost of millions.

A councillor, who did not wish to be named, said it would appear that some of the contractors employed by council to either repair malfunctioning street lights or put up new ones, lack the necessary experience.

His argument is based on the fact that a number of streets which were recently "fixed" are still malfunctioning while several new ones installed in a number of streets in Atteridgeville and Pretoria West are burning 24/7.

The council's public works and infrastructure development department needs to do an audit of the street lights throughout the Tshwane metro area. This may be a big undertaking, but is important so that residents know the council is committed to conserving energy and saving money.

Bear in mind that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa recently said Eskom can increase its price by 24.5 percent from July 1.

This is a major hike and requires of the council and the residents of Tshwane to play their part in conservation.

Still on street lights, some brazen cable thieves have plunged sections of Quagga Road and Maunde Street into darkness. These thieves cut the cables to get copper which they sell for scrap.

Scores of electricity poles are lying by the road, especially in Maunde Street, between Quagga Road and Khoza Street in Atteridgeville.

They have also cut power in parts of Atteridgeville and Lotus Gardens.

Besides their actions being illegal, they also pose a danger to motorists driving along these routes at night.

Urgent plans need to be put in place by the municipality to tackle this problem before it becomes uncontrollable.

Regular patrols should be done by Tshwane Metro Police officers - in consultation with the SAPS - on these routes, or any other route or area where cable thieves operate.

Council should also hold discussions with scrap metal dealers and discourage them from buying copper cables from these thieves.

The scrap metal dealers should be made aware of the damage and danger caused by these cable thieves and criminal charges should be laid against dealers who pay for suspected stolen goods.

Council officials, with the assistance of the Metro Police, should conduct regular raids on scrap metal dealers, especially in the Pretoria West area.

This might discourage them from accepting and paying for stolen goods.

Pretoria News

Posted at 07:57AM Mar 04, 2010 by Editor in Residential  |  Comments[1]