Umeme not responsible for street lighting
EDITOR—We refer to recent reports in both the print and electronic media on the leaning poles at the mandela Stadium Namboole. Some of these poles gave way and hit two passing motor vehicles. From what we have gathered, fortunately no persons were injured.
EDITOR—We refer to recent reports in both the print and electronic media on the leaning poles at the mandela Stadium Namboole. Some of these poles gave way and hit two passing motor vehicles. From what we have gathered, fortunately no persons were injured.
These poles and wires are part of a private network which is the property of Mandela Stadium. The stadium Management is thus responsible for this infrastructure and its maintenance. Umeme has on several occasions clarified the matter that these poles, together with their wires, are not, and have never been, the property of Umeme. This network was constructed for the purpose of street lighting. It is pertinent to mention that the power supply to this network was disconnected by Umeme over two years ago in light of the safety concerns Umeme itself had. Suffice to say that Umeme neither operates nor has any jurisdiction over street lighting, be it at Namboole or anywhere else where it distributes electricity within its licensed footprint.
Notwithstanding this fact, when Umeme was informed of the incident and asked to assist in the removal of these fallen poles and wires from the road, it acted immediately to avert any further danger. Umeme (and its shareholder, Globeleq), take matters of safety as a priority and we have a strict safety policy and procedure under which we operate.
At Umeme safety to the public and our staff is taken very seriously and is one of our key objectives and an integral part of our standard operating procedures as we work to avoid public accidents.
Our appeal to the public is to report on telephone number 185 if they see or notice the Umeme network in a state which looks dangerous or unsafe; this could be a leaning pole, a dangling wire, a smoking transformer or anything a member of the public may perceive as a public safety risk.
Robert Kisubi
Corporate Communication Manager
These poles and wires are part of a private network which is the property of Mandela Stadium. The stadium Management is thus responsible for this infrastructure and its maintenance. Umeme has on several occasions clarified the matter that these poles, together with their wires, are not, and have never been, the property of Umeme. This network was constructed for the purpose of street lighting. It is pertinent to mention that the power supply to this network was disconnected by Umeme over two years ago in light of the safety concerns Umeme itself had. Suffice to say that Umeme neither operates nor has any jurisdiction over street lighting, be it at Namboole or anywhere else where it distributes electricity within its licensed footprint.
Notwithstanding this fact, when Umeme was informed of the incident and asked to assist in the removal of these fallen poles and wires from the road, it acted immediately to avert any further danger. Umeme (and its shareholder, Globeleq), take matters of safety as a priority and we have a strict safety policy and procedure under which we operate.
At Umeme safety to the public and our staff is taken very seriously and is one of our key objectives and an integral part of our standard operating procedures as we work to avoid public accidents.
Our appeal to the public is to report on telephone number 185 if they see or notice the Umeme network in a state which looks dangerous or unsafe; this could be a leaning pole, a dangling wire, a smoking transformer or anything a member of the public may perceive as a public safety risk.
Robert Kisubi
Corporate Communication Manager