ABANDONED HOUSE: Residents of Tiong Hua Road hope the neglected house will not invite criminals.
SIBU: Residents at Lane 11, Tiong Hua Road fear that the few abandoned houses in the area might become havens for drug addicts.
They said they had already seen strangers entering the houses, and that they were suspicious of their activities.
A resident who saw youths entering one of the run-down wooden houses said the situation was worrying.
“We do not want these places to house of criminals; we call on the police to patrol our area,” he said, adding that police would normally patrol the main road only and seldom entered the narrow lanes.
As a few cases of petty thefts had occurred along the lane, he advised house owners there to tighten up security measures.
He cited a case which happened on Tuesday last week, when thieves broke into a house by cutting open the backyard gate to steal two gas cylinders and some kitchenware, including a frying pan.
Although this was only the second theft case there in recent weeks, he feared the thieves would return.