Puchong residents yearn for light

Harold (left) and Woon on the SKVE flyover overlooking the dark stretch near the cloverleaf interchange of Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Expressway.

RESIDENTS of Bandar 16 Sierra and Taman D’Alpina in Puchong are upset at being literally left in the dark due to faulty street lights.

They identified three main spots, namely Persiaran Sierra Utama which is the main road leading into the housing area, the cloverleaf interchange on the Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Expressway and the exit into 16 Sierra from the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE).

Resident Shirlyne Cheah, who wrote to StarMetro to express her dissatisfaction, revealed that the street lights at exit 2606F, which is the turning from SKVE into Bandar 16 Sierra, had not been working for the past three years.

Cheah said she had written to the Public Works Department (JKR) to highlight the issue but was told that due to budget constraints, they were unable to accommodate repairs as priority was to fix faulty traffic lights instead.

“I’m dumbfounded. When they put up street lights, don’t they have an allocation for maintenance?” she asked.

StarMetro visited the location and confirmed that the street lights were not working, and also found a toppled light pole at the site.

The exit to 16 Sierra is not the only spot near the housing area facing this issue.

A street lamp on the verge of collapsing at the turning into 16 Sierra from SKVE.

Resident Woon Terng Tar said a 500m stretch along Putrajaya-Cyberjaya (Federal route 29) near the cloverleaf interchange was also without working street lights.

Woon added that this made using the road at night dangerous.

“Vehicles speed on both sides of Route 29 and it is common to see accident debris like dislodged bumpers along this stretch,” he said.

Woon’s wife Teo Hwee Yong, who is a Taman D’Alpina Residents Association committee member, said the absence of working street lights posed difficulties for motorists navigating the ‘V’ intersection into exits 2606E and 2606F, which head to Kajang and Pulau Indah respectively.

“This usually affects those unfamiliar with the route.

“Motorists who realised that they are about to go into the wrong turning may suddenly swerve, causing accidents to occur,” she said.

Dumalis Sierra 11 Residents Association chairman Harold Francis Ratnam said the issue of faulty street lights along Route 29 was brought to the attention of Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) a year ago but no action had been taken.

“We are disappointed that this situation has been left unattended.

“When I moved into Sierra 11 in 2019, of the five friends whom I invited to my housewarming, four missed the turning into Pulau Indah and ended up in Putrajaya when they mistakenly took the turnoff to Kajang,” said Harold.

When contacted, JKR Selangor director Lokman Nasir replied that his department would check on the matter before responding.

SKVE said that the exit from the expressway to 16 Sierra and the 500 metre stretch along the SKVE cloverleaf interchange are not under their jurisdiction.