KUCHING: The theft of drain covers in areas under Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) is growing in severity.
A statement by DBKU said there were 504 cases in 2010, 863 cases in 2011 and 2,353 cases last year.
A total of 1,328 cases were reported in the first six months of this year.
“The losses incurred by DBKU (due to these thefts) since 2010 amount to RM935,693,” it stated.
It added that missing drain covers also compromised the safety of the public, especially motorists.
“This is a worrying scenario because missing covers are not just a financial loss for the authorities, but also poses danger to members of the public.
“There was a case of a small child falling into an uncovered drain, while motorcycles and cars also suffer damages when they unknowingly went over uncovered holes in the middle of the road.”
DBKU said various actions, including awareness programmes, had been implemented to alleviate the problem.
“DBKU also responds quickly by replacing missing covers as soon as possible. One such case was the one in front of the Open Air Market (yesterday), where DBKU took two hours to install the new cover,” it said.