Govt mulling stiffer penalties for telcos cable theft

The government is considering imposing heavier penalties on those involved in stealing telecommunication cables, which result in service disruptions.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the punishment will be proposed in the amendment to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which is being studied by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Fahmi said he will ask his team at the Communications Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to examine as well as to provide comments and recommendations.

“At this time, the draft amendment to the act is being examined and studied involving several provisions on the aspects of network service quality (telecommunications).

“We made this amendment not only because we saw incidents of cable theft and vandalism but also because of (disruption to) the quality of telecommunication services.

“This is one of the items often raised by users. It is being scrutinised before we bring it to Parliament later,” he told reporters at Lembah Pantai’s Korban Perdana programme today.

The Lembah Pantai MP said this in response to a question about the government’s action to stop the theft of telecommunication copper cables, which has become increasingly prevalent.

- Bernama

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