BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - DRIVERS and pedestrians will soon cease to have complaints about having to drive or walk in complete darkness while on the Kim Collins Highway as that stretch of road and a section of the Frigate Bay Road are being fitted with street lights.
100 LED street lights are being installed starting from the round-a-bout at the airport on the right hand side and proceeding along the entire stretch of the Kim Collins Highway, and this will continue along the Frigate Bay Road ending a few hundred yards from Sugars Nightclub.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, Lenrick Lake, said that the project results from collaboration between the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
He said that the planning and discussions for the project began in January and after receiving the equipment and material in July, the ground work started.
He added that this project is mainly about energy saving which is an objective of the National Energy Policy.
"The project is based on energy efficiency. One of the objectives of the National Energy Policy is to look at energy efficiency and one of the areas that use a lot of energy is street lighting. Most of the bulbs are incandescent bulbs which use a lot of wattage," he said.
Lake said that the lights are going to be monitored via remotes and will be controlled from the Needsmust Power Plant so Public Works would be able to tell how much power and energy is being used.
"The objective is to look at energy efficiency and in the event that they are found to be beneficial then we will make recommendations to see how we can move and replace other existing lighting areas in St. Kitts," he explained.
The St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) Public Relations Officer, Gawain Fraites, said that the Electricity Company has already begun to do its part in the project.
"SKELEC has now begun the ground work for the cable lines which are going to be run underground, and will be installing the lights by the first week in September," Fraites said.
At present, members of Public Works are in the process of installing the pillars along the Frigate Bay Road while SKELEC installs the underground cable after which the lights will be installed.
The project is expected to be completed by Independence Day 2012.
