Rising steel prices, fuelled by China’s surging appetite for the metal, have added new impetus to the regional phenomenon of drain-top theft and manhole mishaps, forcing municipal authorities to get tough on this type of highway robbery.
Missing manholes have long been a hazard throughout Asia and certainly a part of everyday life in Beijing and other Chinese cities, but escalating steel prices have exacerbated the menace.
Last year, 24 000 manhole covers were stolen in Beijing alone, according to state media. The southern city of Guangzhou (Canton) reported 25 000 of the thefts. Shanghai on average loses 12 manhole covers a day. In the city of Tangshan, thieves took away 40 covers in one night alone.
The great drain-top robbery is proving costly for Chinese municipalities.
In the first such case reported, the city of Beijing last December was ordered to pay 30 000 yuan (R23 100) compensation to a pedestrian who fell into a manhole and broke his leg, because authorities had failed to replace the cover.
The 30kg drain covers cost about 300 yuan (R238) each new, although the thieves usually only fetch a 10th of the price for selling them to scrap-metal dealers. Still, for a farmer or migrant worker without a job, a cover a day or every other day makes a living.
Some Chinese cities are experimenting with different materials for their drain covers instead of precious iron, while politicians and city officials have called for tough sentences to battle the theft of public property.
”If a thief is put into prison for three years, who dares to steal any more?” said Jiang Zhonglian, member of a government advisory body.
Infrastructure theft in China also extends to copper cables, a precious raw material just like iron covers.
The city of Tianjin lost 15km of cable between 2002 and 2004. In Shanghai, in one night alone 2km of cable were stolen.
This month, the theft of electrical cables was blamed for a fatal train crash that killed five people and injured 30 on the line between Changchun and Dalian in north-east China.
The cables were part of a signaling system, failure of which caused the nose-to-tail collision of two trains, derailing five carriages, the China News Service reported.
The theft of public property is hardly unique to China.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has urged the public to report any ”suspicious behaviour” in response to a surge in thefts that started last year, which the LTA blames on a booming market for scrap metal.
Between October last year and June this year, 310m of railings in parks, 50 gratings from roads or footpaths and 140 traffic signs have been toted off.
”The thefts put pedestrians and motorists at risk of accidents,” said a LTA spokesperson. Confusion and inconvenience for motorists have also resulted from the sign thefts.
Singapore’s Public Utilities Board had to replace 36 missing manhole covers carried away in lorries recently.
The public has been asked to note down information such as licence-plate numbers, dates, times and the make, model and colour of vehicles used by vandals damaging and removing items.
Those caught stealing public property face a fine up to 2 000 Singapore dollars (R7 700) or prison for up to three years.
They are also punished with canings of between three and eight strokes.
In Malaysia, the short supply in steel has forced many contractors to procure steel bars from ”grey markets” at prices that are significantly more expensive, ranging from an additional 550 ringgit to 650 ringgit (R945 to R1 100) per tonne.
”The sharp increase in steel scrap prices has resulted in manufacturers diverting their output to export markets where billets fetch far higher prices. As a result, there is a critical shortage of steel in the domestic market,” said Jeffrey Ng, president of the Malaysian Real-Estate and Housing Developers’ Association.
Ng called for the government to increase enforcement to ensure an adequate supply of steel to construction companies, adding that ”grey market” suppliers must also be strictly monitored.
”There must also be stricter monitoring of the distribution channels to prevent users from having to pay additional charges in the grey market,” said Ng. — Sapa-DPA