KOTA KINABALU: City Hall is facing serious theft problems of its streetlight control panel components, serving streetlights and decorative lights at strategic locations within the city.
The latest incident occurred on Wednesday (April 23), at the Jalan KK By-pass in front of Menara Jubili, whereby 40 units of LED floodlights, 240 metres of armored cables, and 60 metres of underground copper cables worth more than RM50,000 were stolen.
Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said the stolen floodlights were installed on the road island to brighten up the area and, at the same time to decorate the landscape.
He added that this year alone, the streetlight components at the Jalan Pintas tunnel have already been stolen twice on February 27 and April 22, while another two incidents occurred at Jalan Coastal Highway on March 25 and Jalan Mat Salleh on April 8.
Madingkir said it cost substantial amount of money to replace the stolen streetlights and control panel components.
According to him, City Hall had recently installed many additional streetlights and decorative lights to enhance the city night view and public safety, but sadly these items were either vandalized or stolen.
In view of this, the Mayor called upon the public to assist City Hall by reporting to them or to the police should they come across any suspicious characters working around these control panels, especially at odd hours of the night.
The public can report to City Hall’s Hotline number at 088-210 011 (during office hours) or to the police at 088-242 111 (after office hours).
The Mayor added that City Hall contractors normally do not work late or after midnight unless during special events and they will soon be wearing vests to highlight their identities.