Jeddah to look into poor street lighting

The Jeddah Municipality is to repair damaged electric poles and ensure proper street lighting in all neighborhoods.
Abdul Aziz Al-Ghamdi, spokesman of the municipality, said the street lighting and maintenance department will shortly conduct inspection tours of all Jeddah districts to identify faulty lights.
He said that people in most interior districts have been complaining about poor streetlights, lack of maintenance and instances of falling electric poles.
He said the municipality paid compensations to victims of accidents caused by falling poles. He wondered why the maintenance of streetlights was so poor while maintenance contracts were signed for the entire municipal area during the current and previous years.
He said there were some difficulties in implementing these contracts in a few areas at least.
There are hundreds of damaged poles that need immediate maintenance work and repairs, according to residents in various districts.
Abdul Hadi Al-Motairi, a resident of Al-Shola neighborhood, said: “The side-street where I live plunges into total darkness after nightfall because the bulbs on a number of poles have not been operational for several months.”
Other residents of the neighborhood have complained to the municipality, but there has been no remedial action.
Another resident, Hani Hausawi, said he saw an electric pole collapsing in front of him while he was passing by in Al-Shola neighborhood. “The pole crashed on the driver’s cabin of a truck that was carrying housing material. The traffic police was notified,” he said.