Govt toughens stance on streetlight theft ahead of new installations

…culprits will face full force of the law – Edghill warns

As the Guyana Government continues to install street lights in communities and on major highways to enhance safety and security, there have been several reports of these lights being stolen. To this end, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has announced that the Government will be marking these lights, and unauthorised persons caught with them will be penalised. This was after the Ministry had installed 10 new lights at the roundabout on Heroes Highway to improve visibility for road users, but three of them have since been stolen. “I want to make it very clear: anybody who’s caught with stolen Government of Guyana lights will face the full force of the law. As a matter of fact, part of what we are going to be doing now as a result of that is that every light…from today will have a special laser mark,” Edghill noted in a video posted by his Ministry on Friday.
The exercise to affix that laser mark is being carried out at the Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD) location where the lights are being stored. According to Eghill, the Government has invested millions in procuring these lights in order to improve the lives of every citizen. “Security in this country is everybody’s business…people will go to the top of a pole to steal a light – that’s unimaginable.  10 [installed] at the roundabout, three already stolen. The pole wasn’t knocked down; the lights just disappeared… But this has been happening around the country, where the 18,000 has been laid out.  Persons have called us and indicated to us [that] the lights have gone up. They have enjoyed it for two or three days, and when they come out on the veranda the third night, the light is not there. It’s gone.”

“So, we are improving on our marking, because in order for us to prosecute people who are found with these lights, we need to ensure that we have a secure marking. So, all of the suppliers, along with the [Ministry’s] team, will be in this compound for the next several days, ramping up that exercise [to mark the lights],” the Minister noted. While he indicated that they are working with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to retrieve footage from nearby cameras at the roundabout, where the lights were stolen, in order to capture the culprits, Edghill is calling on persons to report any instances of such theft.
“I also want to use this opportunity today to…appeal to citizens who see and have information about people stealing or removing these unauthorised lights. The Ministry has its hotline; we’ll put that back up on the page. You can call and send images, as well as give information.  And we promise you, your information provided will be treated with the utmost confidence, and the security forces will have to do their job,” he assured. As part of the programme to improve citizens’ security and community security, the Guyana Government has announced that $100,000 worth of streetlights will be installed in communities and on roadways across the country. To date, close to 18,000 of these lights have already been installed in various communities, with new shipments received recently from the suppliers to ramp up the installation exercise. “We have dozens of contractors who have the capacity with their bucket trucks to help to install, and this is being done on a fixed-rate basis. And so, we have a number of contractors who will be doing that,” he noted. Edghill went on to remind that this programme is in keeping with a promise made by President Dr Irfaan Ali to improve security across the country.
“President Ali and the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) Government made a commitment that we’re going to improve citizen security and community security. And apart from the other initiatives through the police force and the other law enforcement agencies to improve community security and citizen security, one of the initiatives was the installation of streetlights to ensure that in communities where people traverse and on our main roads where people have to move, it’s properly illuminated and that we reduce the risk and the incidence of theft, harassment or any criminal activity whatsoever. We are glad, happy that this is yet another promise that was made that we are fulfilling,” he expressed.