The theft of fibre optic cables from a location in Portmore, St. Catherine recently has severely impaired the National Works Agency’s (NWA) ability to monitor traffic along some of the island’s major corridors across four parishes.
NWA Communication Manager, Stephen Shaw says the removal of some three hundred meters of vital cables from the Old Causeway Bridge has disrupted communication between traffic signals along the network in Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and Clarendon. The theft has also disabled remote monitoring of traffic via camera link.
This, he explains, has made it difficult for the Agency to respond in real time to any traffic pile-up or mishap motorists may experience across the network at this time. While preliminary activities to replace the stolen cables have begun, completion of the emergency works is contingent on the availability of funds. The repairs are expected to cost some $1-million dollars.
Over the last three years alone, the Agency or its partner the JPSCo has had to expend millions of dollars to restore traffic signals disabled due to the theft of various signal equipment at several locations. St. Catherine continues to be the hotspot for traffic signal vandalism.
