Eye on scrap metal trade

Make spot checks to curb theft of drain covers, authorities urged

ALOR SETAR: The Housing and Local Government Ministry, concerned about the rampant theft of drain covers, want the authorities to make spot checks on premises that sell scrap metal and second-hand goods to see if they sold the stolen items.

“This is a stringent measure to overcome the problem,” Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung told a press conference here yesterday.

Earlier, he distributed 400 units of the 1Malaysia netbook computers to students from 10 secondary schools in the Alor Setar parliamentary constituency, where he is the MP.

The event was organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) at the Bandar Mu’adzam Federal Administrative Complex in Anak Bukit here.

Chor said the theft of drain covers, for their scrap metal value, had resulted in losses amounting to millions of ringgit for the Government.

“Traders who are caught with the stolen items can face legal action,” he said, adding that almost every state faced the problem.

He called on the police to help local authorities to stop such crimes, adding that his ministry would also meet representatives from these authorities nationwide to discuss and resolve the problem.

“Perhaps it is time for the local authorities to record such stolen items and their value,” he said when asked on the losses and arrests of errant traders.

Meanwhile, MCMC northern region deputy director Mohd Faizal Azizan said 38,000 units of 1Malaysia netbooks had been distributed in Kedah since 2010, adding that 2,900 units were given to students in the Alor Setar parliamentary constituency.

About one million units of the 1Malaysia netbook have been distributed nationwide since 2010.