BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works has begun the final leg of a Lighting Project. A section of the Frigate Bay Road will soon be fitted with LED street lights aimed at improving driving conditions to and from Frigate Bay.
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, continuing along the Frigate Bay Road ending a few hundred yards from Sugars Nightclub.
So far 36 light poles have been erected on the Kim Collins Highway and preparations are currently being made to install the remainder along the Frigate Bay Road.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, Lenrick Lake, had previously stated that the project resulted from collaboration between the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
He said that 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.
Users of the Frigate Bay road are asked to drive with due care as the crewmen work in the area, to complete the project.
The project is expected to be completed soon with only nine more poles to be erected before the road is lit.
