Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan has expressed concerns at the length of time it is taking for faulty street lights to be repaired.
“Obviously over the long, dark winter evenings street lights are essential and help make people feel safe and secure. This is true for pedestrians, commuters, businesses and home owners but particularly true of our elderly population.
“I have noticed an increase of calls to my office on this issue and it is clear from my own experience out and about North Antrim during the election campaign that this is a real problem. On one night out canvassing I reported myself 6 faulty lights out between Cargan and Martinstown villages.
“There are many built up developments where fully functioning street lights are essential to help provide safety and I have had elderly people complain that in some instances when a number of lights are out they feel both frightened and nervous about accidents.
“I am aware that there is currently only one electrician looking after street light repairs for the whole of Causeway Coast and Glens, Mid and East Antrim and Antrim and Newtownabbey council areas. That is essentially one person from the North Coast to Belfast. That is completely unacceptable.
“I am told that there are currently over 2,000 reported faults in this area and that is meaning that it is taking over 6 weeks to get lights fixed from when they are reported.
“I have contacted the Department for Infrastructure with my concerns and asked that additional resources be used to resolve this backlog.”
