EVEN with increased night patrols and the installation of remote sensors at its facilities to detect unauthorised entry, Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) still finds itself fighting a losing battle against equipment thefts and vandalism.

According to statistics provided by the state power company to The Malaysian Insight, in the last 16 months, 174 cases of cable theft and vandalism were recorded across Sarawak, with only nine people caught for theft – a success rate of only 5.17%.

Five of them were caught last year and four, this year.

SEB said the losses incurred in the 16 months amounted to more than RM1.3 million.

This includes costs of repairs, replacement and recovery.

“It also causes supply disruptions, inconveniencing our customers,” SEB said, citing the incident on April 22 where unknown person/persons vandalised 33kV underground cables in the coastal district of Lundu, causing four villages – Kg Sampadi, Kg Stoh, Kg Rambungan and Kg Sungai Cina – and the surrounding areas to suffer a blackout for several hours.

Apart from lodging a police report over the attempted theft, the company is now increasing patrols in the area.

In some cases, stealing the cables for the highly valuable copper would end tragically like the April 11 incident where a man was electrocuted while trying to steal cables at a transformer on the Serian-Sri Aman Road.

“Vandals remain unhindered by the serious electrical hazards and are willing to risk their lives for small gains leading to tragic events such as the recent fatality,” SEB said.

Being too close to live electrical facilities is extremely dangerous and stealing cables can result in flashovers, resulting in an electrocution, burns and death, it said.

The SEB statistics shows 53% of the cable theft/vandalism cases in the 16-month period took place in Kuching district.

What is surprising is that most of the cases happened in urban areas – in and around Kuching – and not in the rural areas where the installations are most vulnerable.

According to the SEB statistics, 65% of the cases were in the urban areas.

SEB said in efforts to tackle the thefts and vandalism, it will leverage technology to enhance its monitoring system.

The company said it is also raising public awareness through various media and working closely with the community in rural areas of vandalism and its consequences.

“Joint operations with the police will also be carried out to check recycling centres for trades of stolen copper cables among second-hand goods dealers,” it added. – May 17, 2022.