Company contributes bicycles to Keningau police
KENINGAU: The Keningau district police headquarters has received a donation of five bicycles from Mee Woo Company for the purpose crime prevention in town.
The bicycles were delivered by a member of the company, Madam Sun Poh Foong, to district police chief Deputy Superintendent Douglas Nyeging Taong.
Douglas in his speech thanked the company for contributing the five bicycles to the police.
In welcoming the donation, he said it was for the convenience of the police and volunteers to perform their tasks at all times in order to prevent or curb criminal activities, especially in the town area.
“As I mentioned, there have been no major crime or serious cases in the area for the past week, compared to the residential areas.
“But my advice to the people when withdrawing cash from the bank is to always careful. Such criminals tend to target banks but they do not necessarily strike in the vicinity right after you withdraw money from the bank as they could also follow you and then steal the money from you if left unattended in your car,” he said.
While Douglas assured that the town area is 100 per cent free of robberies, he said it was still a risk in neighbourhoods and housing estates as such criminals will target people who have money.
To that end, he expressed appreciation for the contribution and promised to carry out his duties fully following this assistance.
“Unfortunately, I was transferred to the Kudat police headquarters but I remain committed to offer my assistance where Keningau needs it.
“I’m not stingy with my efforts to serve the people at all times, that is the mission and vision for my coming here and I do not want to cause problems to the people of this town, most of whom are merchants. That is why the police always focus on crime prevention operations in town every night, including on Saturdays and Sundays,” he said.
According to Douglas, the situation in Keningau has changed a lot now that anyone could travel from Kalabakan in this area all the way to Papar, Kota Kinabalu and Penampang.
Therefore, he said it could not be denied that with the more crowded condition here, criminals could use Keningau as a transit to smuggle in drugs and turn the area into a crime hotspot.
“Based on our criminal arrest index this month, most of the criminals come from outside, from Tawau, Sandakan, Tenom, Kota Kinabalu, Tuaran and Putatan, with very little involvement from the local people.
“Indeed, my expectations since early last year was that we would see more crime this year as more criminal cases were bound to occur due to the current situation.
“Similarly, drug arrests increased to 500 cases so far this year. Last year, we arrested 601 people and the number of cases is bound to increase,” he said.
Douglas also lamented that the increase in drug crime would also eventually contribute to increase in other criminal cases.
Meanwhile, he advised the police officers here to perform their duties responsibly and maintain close ties with the local community as they cannot perform their tasks alone.