Sunday February 5, 2006
Metal thieves in Johor stop at nothing
JOHOR BARU: The soaring prices of steel and copper are causing thieves to target anything containing these metals, from electrical cables to manhole covers.
The situation has reached such an alarming state that in one incident on Friday, a fire broke out when thieves carted away metal fixtures from a Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) cable bridge in Jalan Skudai.
The theft caused a power overload that triggered a fire which caused losses of RM650,000.
“Last year, the company suffered losses amounting to RM2.5mil from 83 similar thefts, mainly involving substations around the state.
“In the last two months of this year, we had five cases with losses touching almost RM700,000,” state TNB general manager Mohammad Mokhtar Mohd Ali said.
 |
MORNING BLAZE: A fireman putting out the last traces of the fire at the TNB cable bridge in Johor Baru on Friday. |
The Johor Baru City Council is also facing similar theft problems on a daily basis.
Council public relations officer Lokman Sulaiman said that last year alone, the council discovered some 500 thefts involving manhole and drain covers.
“The council spent more than RM40,000 replacing them,” he said, adding that the worst-hit areas were around Taman Pelangi and Taman Daya.
He explained that, to date, the council had spent about RM4,000 to replace these covers in about 50 cases.
“We have started to take precautionary measures including welding the covers to the base,” he said.
On the fire, Mohammad assured the public that there would be no power disruptions although repair works would take at least 10 days.
“Last year, we nabbed at least 10 people for stealing TNB property. In one instance, a man died from electrocution,” he said.
During the 10.20am fire, eight firemen from the Johor Baru Fire and Rescue Department rushed to the scene and took 10 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
“We received the call at 10.25am and reached the scene eight minutes later,” fire department operations commander Shahri Nor said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
News Poll
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- Chin Peng apologises for death of innocents
- Girl and stepmum held over bid to kill first wife
- Biggest karaoke session a blast
- New evidence on MCA snoop squad case arrives at doorstep
- Teoh's second autopsy completed 3.15pm
- Victim’s dad nabs kidnapper
- Teoh’s body exhumed for second autopsy today
- Foreigner falls to her death from condominium
- Malaysians must get regular dental checks
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- Chin Peng apologises for death of innocents
- Malaysians must get regular dental checks
- No licence to try offenders
- Big impact in ‘small’ man’s win
- New evidence on MCA snoop squad case arrives at doorstep
- Stop blanket approval for outsourcing, says union
- Weapons drawn for new battle
- Johor set to be a medical hub
- Joy for 2,500 housebuyers as SPNB takes over project
RSS
