Good street lighting and traffic lights can help reduce road accidents and theft as well as making Vientiane more attractive
Municipal authorities are asking for more than 52 billion kip (US$6 million) to brighten up the streets of Vientiane ahead of the city's 450th anniversary as the Lao capital, in 2010.
The Vientiane Urban Development and Administration Authority expects lighting in Vientiane to be improved in time for the city's 450th anniversary as the Lao capital.
The Vientiane Urban Development Administration Authority (VUDAA) says the funds are necessary to modernise streetlights and traffic lights in the capital so equipment is standardised and regular maintenance can be carried out.
Major roads including Kaysone Phomvihane and Asean roads have been rebuilt, but street lighting has not yet been installed due to a lack of funds.
The authority also needs money to pay its electricity bills. Electricité du Laos bills the authority more than 100 million kip for street lighting each month and VUDAA has outstanding bills of more than six billion kip.
VUDAA Vice President, Mr Ketkeo Sihalath, said lighting improvements were one of six targets for the capital ahead of the anniversary. The other goals include enhanced security, cleanliness, green spaces, overall attractiveness and modernisation, all aimed at creating an aesthetically pleasing city.
Street lighting is essential in a town the size of Vientiane . In addition to reducing road accidents, streetlights also reduce the risk of theft and other crimes, Mr Ketkeo said.
He said there were not enough staff in his office to manage the daily workload and he asked for the public's help in informing the authority when streetlights and traffic lights malfunction.
Vientiane has four street lighting systems: automatic, switch-operated, solar powered and lights whose damaged cables have to be repaired manually.
Each system has its own problems. Lights that turn on automatically suffer from irregular electricity supply and power outages cause the system to reset the timing so the lights don't switch on when they should.
Another major problem is the shortage of spare parts. For example, the streetlights along Lane Xang Avenue near Patuxay are no longer being produced by the Chinese manufacturer. The company now produces a new model and no longer makes parts for older models.
“We need to change all of these lights so we know we can obtain spare parts for them,” Mr Ketkeo said.
Officials encounter similar problems when it comes to traffic lights. Mr Ketkeo said it was difficult to get new parts to replace faulty equipment.
Several traffic lights in the capital are out of action after being damaged in accidents. This is causing confusion and congestion at road junctions, which heightens the risk of accidents, especially now there are so many vehicles on the roads.
Mr Ketkeo said when traffic lights were broken it took a long time to repair them because it was difficult to obtain new parts. Yet again, the traffic lights installed in Vientiane were imported from China some years ago and the manufacturer is now producing a new model, so spare parts are difficult to find.
The traffic lights at the km 6 junction on Kaysone Phomvihane Road ceased to function three months ago when a vehicle ploughed into them and damaged the electrical system.
This has caused erratic traffic flow at the junction and VUDAA has asked Electricité du Laos to help repair the lights.
VUDAA wants to make public the difficulties it faces after hearing endless complaints from motorists about the damaged traffic lights.
Officials are well aware that when traffic lights are not working they pose a serious risk to motorists.
A resident of Xiengda village in Xaysettha district, Mr Mee, 32, said there were often accidents on Kamphengmeuang Road at night, especially at the junction with the road leading to Dongkhamxang Finance School .
He said last week he saw a motorbike hit a bicycle at about 7pm. The motorist told police he did not see the bicycle because it was too dark.
Mr Mee said there were street lights along the road but not all of them were switched on in the area where the accident occurred.
Last year 2,190 accidents were recorded in the capital, according to the Vientiane Traffic Police Department.
In the first six months of 2007 there were 1,191 accidents, but records for the same period in 2008 showed an increase to 1,296 incidents.
From January to June this year 274 accidents were reported in Sikhottabong district, the highest number recorded in any district of Vientiane.
Mr Ketkeo issued a call for assistance to help VUDAA achieve its goals.
“We want streetlights and traffic lights to be integrated into a modern system with a centralised switch. We also need to make sure we have spare parts so we can replace components when lights are broken,” he said.
“We are fairly confident we will achieve our goals ahead of the anniversary celebrations in 2010.”
