PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO CURB CABLE AND UTILITY THEFTS - Losses cause disruption to services

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS) and Indah Water Konsortium Sdn.Bhd. (IWK) (henceforth referred to “the companies”) have come together to fight the increasing danger, inconvenience and losses caused by cable and utility theft in the country.

The companies have long been facing problems related to cable and utility theft. With soaring prices of copper and steel of late, there has been a substantial increase in theft cases reported. Thieves are targeting anything made out of metals and iron cast, and these include anything from electrical power and telecommunications cables to manhole covers and tap heads. In 2006 alone, these companies recorded a loss of more than RM100 million.

To tackle this increasingly rampant problem, Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, Minister of Energy, Water and Communications at a press conference held at Putrajaya today, announced that the companies will be embarking on a public awareness campaign primarily aimed at creating awareness on the issue and appealing to consumers to play a more proactive role to prevent these thefts as it disrupts services causing great inconvenience to consumers in the process.

“Although the companies restore services as soon as possible by replacing the stolen cables or items, the thieves target these replacements almost as soon as they are installed. Not only do customers suffer from service disruptions, what is of great concern is the danger that these thefts cause as there have been fatalities reported when thefts of this nature are carried out. In short, lives are being lost, companies are losing millions and services are being disrupted,” said Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim.

Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim further stated : “The existence of a large number of illegal scrap metal dealers has compounded this problem by providing avenues for thieves to dispose the stolen items easily. We must remember, when there is no demand, there is no supply. I would like to urge the authorities concerned to clamp down on these illegal scrap metal dealers.”

“The public must be aware that these thefts are occurring right in their own neighbourhoods. The public can assist and play a bigger role in curbing this problem by alerting the authorities or the relevant company when they see suspicious activities taking place in their neighbourhoods or if they see cables being cut, metal covers or water meters being stolen.”

“The Ministry is gravely concerned at the seriousness of this problem and will work together with the companies and the Police to fight this crime. The public must remember that at the end of the day they are the victims of this crime as their essential services will be disrupted, hence causing a lot of inconvenience to them,” he added.

As a result of these thefts, the inconvenience to the public has increased substantially as outlined below :

TM
TM’s losses in 2006 have increased six-fold compared to 2005. In 2005, TM recorded a loss of RM9.7 million while in 2006, TM’s losses increased to RM57.7 million. This corresponds with the increase in the number of cases from 3,825 in 2005 to 16,291 in 2006. Kedah/Perlis recorded the highest number of cases totaling 3,549 with losses amounting to RM13 million, closely followed by Johor and Selangor recording losses of more than RM10 million.

Apart from the financial losses, theft of telecommunication cables causes great inconvenience to thousands of customers as telephone and Internet services are disrupted. Although TM replaces the stolen cables to restore services as soon as possible, in some areas, the newly laid cables are stolen repeatedly. These telephone outages not only affect residential customers but also cause problems to businesses that are dependent on the Internet in carrying out their daily operations. There have also been cases where dangling cables that were left by thieves causing fatal accidents to motorists. In essence, cable theft creates serious safety hazards and service reliability issues for TM and its customers.

Although numerous initiatives are undertaken to mitigate the thefts such as installing sensors which are linked to nearby police stations in high incident areas, or the use of CDMA as opposed to copper or fibre optic for fixed line services and increasing patrols at cable theft prone areas together with the Police and RELA, are in place, the number of theft cases continue to rise.

TM views this as not only a loss to the company but also a major threat to national security when its trunk cables are cut repeatedly.

TNB
As of September 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006, TNB has incurred losses of at least RM41.37 million from metal theft. The losses had risen significantly from the previous financial year when it recorded RM9.36 million. The number of cases also increased from 718 for 2004/2005 to 2,406 in financial year 2005/2006.

TNB’s supply of electricity in the country is gravely threatened with the rise in power cable thefts. Copper or steel components are used in the cable as well as in TNB’s equipment installed in substations. These equipment are often vandalized or stolen causing blackouts or power surge which causes millions of ringgit in damages and inconvenience to consumers.

Efforts to deter the crime by conducting regular patrol and using high quality padlocks, as preventive measures seemed ineffective as the thefts become too rampant. Furthermore, there are thousands of TNB substations around the country. TNB has also engaged security firm and used close circuit television to monitor some of its strategic substations.

Although the losses related to these thefts are significant to the Company, it is the loss of life that is more cause for concern. There have been numerous incidences where thieves have been electrocuted in the act.

SYABAS
SYABAS too has not been spared from theft. It is facing many problems related to stolen water meters and loss of water due to illegal tapping, which contribute to high non revenue water (NRW). As at December 2006, SYABAS had recorded a total of 21,654 water meters stolen worth RM1.3 million. This is excluding the losses that SYABAS incurs from illegal tapping of water which constitutes more than RM100 million.

As a result, the supply of water is disrupted and consumers will suffer until the meter is fixed. In addition, consumers will also incur unnecessary cost in replacing stolen water meters.

In order to curb these problems, SYABAS has undertaken several measures such as visiting scrap metal dealers together with Jabatan Kawalselia Air Selangor and Kementerian Tenaga, Air & Komunikasi (KTAK) around Shah Alam and Klang Valley, besides distributing leaflets and posters to warn the perpetrators from buying or selling stolen properties of SYABAS.

Stringent checks were done on the premises to make sure that these dealers are not in possession of SYABAS items like water meters. SYABAS also launched an awareness program whereby the public are encouraged to call its 24-hour PUSPEL toll free no at 1800-88-5252 or the nearest police stations if they see any suspicious activities going on such as stealing of water meters or illegal tapping. SYABAS will also be launching the approved alternative plastic water meters soon in its effort to curb these menacing activities.

IWK
For 2006, IWK recorded a total of 1,640 cases and losses amounting to RM6.7 million.

Indah Water’s sewerage facilities are affected each time its power supply control panels, iron cast manhole covers, copper cables for lightning arrestors, metal gratings or pumps are stolen. As a result customers suffer from odor problem, back flow and overflow of sewage at manholes as well as within the premises.

The stolen manhole covers and chain linked fences in particular have resulted in more serious consequences including fatal accidents of trespassers intruding into sewerage facilities and also severe injuries to motorcyclists due to stolen manhole covers.

As part of its ongoing efforts to deter theft and more importantly reinforce safety and security, IWK has implemented several action steps including substituting metal gratings with “Fibre Reinforced Plastics’ (FRT), replaced portable iron cast covers with locks and permanent outer frames implanted onto road surfaces and surveillance by security guards as well as customers, whose premises are located in the vicinity.

Public awareness campaign
This 3-month campaign will kick off in the first week of February. Members of the public can look out for television commercials, print advertisements, radio commercials, billboards, posters and flyers on this issue.

The objective of the campaign is 2-fold :

• to inform and create awareness on the effect of cable and utilities thefts to the public at large; the danger it poses and the inconvenience it causes to all consumers through service disruption
  
  
• to seek the assistance of the public to play a more proactive role in curbing these thefts as these thefts actually violate their rights to uninterrupted communication, power, water and sewerage services

At a press conference held today at Putrajaya, Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim unveiled the logo that will be used in the campaign. The i-Watch/Awasi logo is designed to be a recognisable emblem of a nationwide campaign against cable and utility theft. The idea is to remind both the public and the thieves to “Watch Out” and this is communicated through a pair of watching eyes combined with a call to action tagline and 999 number.

Through one emblem the public is implored to be watchful and report suspicious activity around cable and utility installations, while at the same time, the thieves are warned to Watch Out as all eyes are on them.

Representing the actions of watching and being watched is a small man-shaped icon in the pupil of the eye. Each eye is separated by the combination of red and black to symbolise day and night and further emphasise the seriousness and importance of the campaign.

Members of the public must take note that SYABAS only operates in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, hence it can only act on thefts that occur in these three areas.

“We seek the public’s co-operation in making this campaign a success. It is important that every member of the public understand the seriousness of this theft issue so that the number of breakdowns involving the utilities can be reduced. The thieves must be stopped for the crime is damaging to the image of the country. It not only poses problem for the public to enjoy the facilities provided but also to investors having business interests in the country,” concluded Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim.

Jointly issued by TM, TNB, SYABAS and IWK

For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my

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