In Kelantan, East Coast of Malaysia, usual train passengers were shocked to discover that the shelter at the train stop station that they frequented has disappeared entirely! Suddenly they found themselves exposed to the elements when the metal thieves had carted off the entire railway stop at Pekan Tok Uban, near Pasir Mas, Kelantan.

Confirming this, KTMB east coast manager Ibrahim Sulaiman said that two weeks ago thieves, keen on extracting the steel components, removed a store and stop sign that indicated the stopping point for trains in Pekan Tok Uban. He said the company was deeply concerned over the growing theft of its equipment. It had lodged a police report since.

In recent years, as the cost of steel rises, the number of theft in the country has increased dramatically. They will striped down power plant, telephone booth together with the copper wires, parking meters, street signs, window frames from abandoned building and scout around any other source that has metals.

Because of ineffectiveness and insufficient support from the police forces, every year government loses millions of RM (approx. US$1 = RM 3.40) just to repair and replace the stolen items, and wait to be stolen again. Ibrahim appealed to villagers to keep a lookout for the thieves. He hoped that a comprehensive plan must be in place to tackle these problems as soon as possible as one day the thieves might be bold enough to cut away the entire railway tracks, thus causing not only financial losses, but putting thousands of lives in danger.

Source : thestar.com.my