GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — Thieves continue to make off with street lights on the Orange Bay main road in this parish though residents have been keeping an eye on the Jamaica Public Service (JPS)-installed infrastructure.

On Monday came the realisation that five lights were missing, adding to three that were stolen on October 31.

A disappointed Councillor Marvell Sewell (People’s National Party, Green Island Division) said residents have been trying their best to prevent the streets of their community from once again being plunged into darkness.

“Citizens start to watch the lights now. As soon as they see a truck in the area, they will inform me; because all of us turn watch dogs for the lights now,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Sewell said he had received nine calls from alert residents late Monday afternoon after a truck was seen in the area, but it turned out to be a JPS truck on legitimate business.

The theft of the eight lights have left only two from a batch installed in March after a series of setbacks. The local government ministry had given the nod for 10 lights to be installed in Orange Bay, but half were instead installed in the neighbouring parish of Westmoreland, sparking outrage among residents and earning the ire of Councillor Sewell. The five diverted lights were eventually replaced but the project was also hampered by the theft of secondary wires needed for work to proceed. All 10 lights were eventually in place by March but their numbers have been dwindling at the hands of thieves.

According to a JPS source, the eight missing lights should be replaced by the end of this week. The company executive, who asked not to be identified by name, also disclosed that instructions were given Monday for the replacement of a transformer that supplies the 10 lights. It went out of service in September.

— Anthony Lewis