KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — The government is finalising amendments to the rail transport law to impose heavier penalties with fines of up to RM100,000 on criminals who trespass and steal cables from national rail facilities.
Transport Deputy Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah said the proposal to increase the fine from the current RM1,000 is expected to be tabled in the next Parliament session.
"We will amend this law to reach RM100,000 for each offence...currently in the process and God willing, perhaps by the end of this year in the next session, a stricter amendment to the law will be brought to this House," he said in the question and answer session during the Dewan Negara sitting today.
He was responding to Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli's query about the government's mitigation measures to address travel disruptions caused by cable theft and to ensure public transport is maintained.
Hasbi added that the amendment to the law is urgent, as the existing penalties were deemed too lenient given the impact of damage and delays on train operations that the operators had to bear.
Additionally, the move was driven by a surge in cable theft cases, resulting in a total loss of RM50 million across the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad network, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
He said that 71 cable theft cases were recorded along the ECRL project with an estimated loss of RM4.06 million, while 13 cases of theft and damage to equipment and other materials related to the system resulted in a loss of RM0.69 million.
“This brings the total loss to RM4.75 million. Although the ECRL is still in the construction phase and has not yet involved travel disruptions for users, the incident has the potential to affect the project implementation schedule, including installation, testing, commissioning, and operational preparations,” Hasbi said.
To strengthen security controls on the ground, the government is installing 1,146 closed-circuit television cameras along the railway line from Johor to the north of the country.
In addition, KTMB has acquired 20 units of scrambler motorcycles for use by the Auxiliary Police to tighten 24-hour patrols, and has implemented physical controls such as closing high-security manholes and using sniffer dogs.
