Ang (seated, second left) in a group photo with second-hand dealers in Miri after the briefing at police headquarters.
MIRI: It is the responsibility of local second-hand dealers to help police by not dealing in or purchasing stolen goods.
“When you decide not to deal with thieves or not to buy stolen goods, you have helped indirectly in preventing criminal activities.
“In this respects, you should record the particulars of every individual and the second-hand items that they bring long for sale, so that in the event that there are stolen goods being detected at your premises later, such record would enable police to cross refer and detect these individuals,” said Miri police crime prevention and community safety department head DSP Ang Seow Au during a briefing with 12 local second-hand dealers yesterday.
The two-hour session was held at the police headquarters here and was also attended by Miri police licensing officer for second-hand items, Insp Beruin Lintaog.
According to Ang, the briefing was meant for the local dealers to know in detail about the changes in the Second-Hand Act 1946 (2011), which had been extended to Sabah and Sarawak.
“Some new rules under the Second-hand Act have been there since the expansion to Sabah and Sarawak since 2014, but they will only be implemented in Sarawak effective Feb 1, 2017 – therefore, second-hand dealers here have to apply new licences,” said Ang, adding that all second-hand dealers’ licensing would be approved by the Sarawak police commissioner. So far, there are 43 second-hand traders in Miri Division registered with the police.