Dubai Police warns of rising cable thefts

Dubai Police has warned construction companies of the growing trend of theft of electric cables.

At a press conference yesterday, the CID of Dubai Police said a growing trend in stealing of electric cables, particularly from poorly guarded construction sites, has been noticed.

Dubai Police urged companies to take adequate steps to guard equipment by increasing the number of security guards, improving lighting and installing surveillance cameras at construction sites.

A police official said, "It is unbelievable that construction companies have equipment and electrical cables worth millions of dirhams but keep just one guard on a very low salary Dh600.”

According to a study by Dubai Police, there were 84 cases of theft of electric cables during the first ten months of 2011. 480 people were put on trial, including 10 traders who had bought stolen material. In 2010, the number of cable theft cases was 108 and the number of the accused 554, including 16 scrap dealers.

The thieves raided construction sites and warehouses which had no guards, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, and used hydraulic shears to cut live cables. There were eight such cases this year and one in 2010 in which one of the thieves was burnt. DEWA’s power cables were also targeted.

Thieves sometimes pulled underground cables, resulting in explosion of power generators.

The study says most of the cable thieves were Asians, especially Pakistanis, Afghans, Bangladeshis and recently Vietnamese also.

Out of the 84 cases of cable theft in 2010, 42 offences occurred in Al Qusais alone and 34 elsewhere. 19 cases were reported from public squares, 15 from warehouses and nine from shops and houses.

Colonel Mohammed Nasser said cable theft does not occur in Dubai alone but happens in other emirates of UAE and other Gulf states too due to the surge in construction and demand for copper.  A ton of copper sells for Dh31,000.

He predicted decline in cable thefts because of greater awareness and tighter security measures and also because infrastructure work in UAE, particularly Dubai, is nearing completion.

Dubai Police has prepared a programme to combat cable theft, which included intensification of security patrols around construction sites, he said.

He also said the police was trying to improve awareness of the problem among DEWA officers and construction companies.

Meanwhile, Dubai Police has been monitoring 23 construction sites exposed to theft during the last 10 months. It filled the security gaps at 18 of these sites and arrested 13 people at other sites.

Dubai Police’s Ayoun programme links construction sites to the police’s operations room via cameras.

The police has also improved security at the entrances to Dubai towards the east in which direction cable thieves usually move for sale of the stolen goods.

Dubai Police appealed to the public to report on construction sites vulnerable to theft by calling the toll-free number 800600600, without any accountability for the caller.