Blantyre City Council concerned over street lights

Blantyre City Council (BCC) has expressed concern over the increase in road accidents resulting to knocking down of street light poles.

Kasunda: Concerns over streets lights
Kasunda: Concerns over streets lights

BCC Public Relations Manager Anthony Kasunda said the accidents are hindering the city council’s efforts to provide similar facilities to other city road users since they are focusing on the damaged street lights.

According to Kasunda, approximately 10 street light poles have been knocked down this year alone and most have not been replaced.

“Our major concern as a city council is that instead of mobilising resources to connect new streets with lights, we are burdened with the responsibility of maintaining those that have been damaged and one street light costs more than K300, 000,” said Kasunda.

Kasunda added that in normal circumstances, the person involved in the accident is supposed to report the matter to the police after which BCC claims damages from insurance companies but that has not been the trend since most motorists flee from the scene of the accident without reporting the cases to the police.

He appealed to motorists in the country to drive carefully and report any such accidents involving street light poles.

Kasunda said street lights play a vital role in the country’s roads fostering the safety of both motorists and pedestrians during the night by enabling them to see better.

Commenting on the same, Lonjezo Mulambuzi, a minibus driver, concurred with Kasunda on the importance of street lights saying they enable motorists to see what lies ahead of them during the night.

Mulambuzi said the street lights help prevent accidents from taking place because drivers are able to see fellow motorists adding that the lights have also helped in the apprehension of careless drivers during the night as people are able to identify a reckless motorist’s number plate unlike in situations where the lights are unavailable.

He then called on The Road Traffic Directorate to actively sensitize motorists in the country on the importance of street lights and the need to report such accidents to police.

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Gogo Bisani
Gogo Bisani
7 years ago

“One street light costs K300,000” So what? Is that a significant amount? If ten light poles are knocked down per year, then it would cost only K3,000,000 to replace them all, That’s too little amount compared to the allowances and motor vehicle maintenance costs per each hilux you own there, priorities please!

concerned citizen
concerned citizen
7 years ago

The police also have to inforce traffic regulations. If they see a car being driven arround having a dent, they should demand a police report that will give information as to what happened and where. If the driver can not produce report as evidence of where and how the damage to the car happened, then, the driver should be charged for not reporting an accident. Hit and ran is a serious traffic offence

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