Illuminating plan for Benitachell

Benitachell council has announced it is working on a plan to guarantee a definitive and long-term solution for both the lack of street lighting in urbanisations after numerous wiring thefts, and for the high expenses for maintenance and repair due to the age of the lights. An audit was initiated a few months ago in order to detect the general deficiencies and to apply necessary improvements. Weeks of intensive inspections by an expert engineer have resulted in a report detailing all failures and damages.

In the case of the lack of lighting on the Cumbre del Sol because of the wiring thefts, the document helped to detect all the affected lights and quantify the investment for repair. The report suggests that it will be necessary to allocate about €150,000, this is for the purchase of the wiring, the necessary material to secure the wires inside, and to employ a workforce.

The areas affected range from Cala Moraig to the roads in Camelias, Dalias, Lilies, the area around the school, Iris, Jazmín and Panorama.

Due to the high cost of replacing the public lighting system, the expert not only evaluated the areas of necessary action and the total cost, but also studied other aspects relevant to the problem, such as dissuasive measures in order to avoid further theft.

At the end of 2019, the wiring in the Valle del Portet area was repaired in the first phase of this plan which aims to be 'ambitious and definitive', as stated by Mayte Roldan, the councillor for housing and development. “We don't want to close holes by patching them. That solution does not work in the long run. That is why we have stopped to make a serious diagnosis first to assess the possibilities and, finally, to make the necessary decisions to carry out the relevant actions”, she said.

In this same line of longterm planning work, the audit is intended to review the entire electrical network and installation to achieve better performance and operation. “The expenditure in maintenance and repairs makes us suspect that the electrical installations we have are not the most appropriate, and that is why we have made the decision to carry out an audit that sheds a little more light on this matter”, said mayor Miguel Ángel García.