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Following is the written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying on theft of metallic materials in the Legislative Council today (June 6):
Question:
It has been reported that, from time to time in recent years, metal items such as roadside railings, gutter covers and cables in private buildings were stolen and sold for money. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cases involving the theft of the above metal items in the past three years, the location, number of items, total value and penalty involved in each case, together with a breakdown by the types of items stolen; as well as the number of accidents and casualties caused to the public in such cases;
(b) of the specific measures to prevent the theft of such metal items in public places, whether it will further enhance existing measures or adopt new measures in this respect; if it will, of the specific details, as well as the manpower and costs involved;
(c) how the Government, power companies, tenants and landlords can make concerted efforts to prevent the theft of electrical installations in private buildings, to avoid posing danger to the tenants concerned, and of the responsibilities to be borne by individual parties;
(d) of the number of cases detected by the Police in the past three years, which involved recyclable waste collectors receiving the above loots, as well as the maximum, minimum and general penalties imposed; and
(e) of the measures to prevent recyclable waste collectors from inadvertently receiving the above loots?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Administration has not maintained the overall statistics of the cases concerned, and therefore cannot provide details in respect of such cases.
(b) Having regard to the prevailing district crime situations, the Police will take commensurate actions to combat the offences. These include enhancing patrols by both uniform and plain-clothes police officers at crime blackspots, and on the basis of intelligence available, conducting ambushed arrests of the culprits in high risks places. For metal items such as railings and gutter covers in public places, the relevant departments take various measures in accordance with the applicable needs and circumstances - for example, regular patrols, planting the bases of railings into steel-reinforced concrete, engraving identification marks onto metallic manhole covers, considering the use of other materials (such as plastics or concrete) to substitute metallic materials, and strengthening the liaison with the Police regarding theft blackspots. The Administration has not compiled statistics regarding the resources involved for these measures.
(c) As the owners of the electrical installations of buildings, landlords and occupants are responsible for the safety of the electrical installations of their buildings. As with other security issues, landlords and occupants should ensure the security of their buildings in accordance with the guidance given by the Police, in order to prevent the theft and interference of the electrical installations in their buildings and the resultant dangers. Power companies and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department will also notify the landlords and occupants for follow-up actions if they notice any damage to installations during their inspection of electrical systems and electrical installations inside buildings.
(d) The Police do not maintain statistics on cases involving waste collectors receiving metallic stolen goods.
(e) We understand that, generally, waste collectors collect materials for recycling from familiar sources, and should not have difficulties in recognising items of dubious origin. The Police and the Environmental Protection Department will from time to time advise the recycling industry not to accept items of dubious origin or those suspected to have been obtained from theft, and to report suspicious cases to the Police. The Crime Prevention Office of different police districts also provide advice to the relevant industries from time to time having regard to the latest district crime situation.
Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:05
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