TAWAU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) urged police to step up patrols at the Sedco light industrial estate at KM5 Jalan Apas to curb thefts in the area. LDP Tawau Public Complaint Bureau chief Sarah Chang said a factory owner at the industrial estate complained about electrical cables being stolen, causing the factory to lose power supply.
According to the complainant, her factory has been broken into several times in the past and, therefore, she decided to install stainless steel gates.
Unable to break into the factory, the thieves resorted to stealing electrical cables near the premises which resulted in the loss of power supply that affected the operation of the factory.
Chang said the factory owner had complained about the issue to the Sri Tanjong Democratic Action Party (DAP) Community Development Leader’s (PPM) office twice and a PPM even visited the premises but the problem had yet to be solved.
She said the complainant also raised the issue to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and was told that the electrical wiring was within the vicinity of the factory.
As such, the factory owner had to replace the missing cables on her own before the SESB could reconnect the power supply.
Under such circumstances, she said the factory operators at the light industrial estate relied on generators for power supply but that was not a sustainable option.
Chang said the factory operators believed the problem stemmed from the lack of security and have filed several police reports.
“However, the factory owners have not seen police patrolling the area and the thefts remained prevalent.”
The inaction forced the factory owners to turn to LDP Public Complaints Bureau for assistance, with hopes that the Government would look into the security issues at the Sedco light industrial estate.
“The factory owners are Malaysians and legal users of SESB.
“But they have to fork out their own money to install power generators while the illegal immigrants nearby are blatantly stealing power supply from SESB,” she stressed.
