He said from this number, 138 lorries and vans were reported stolen while 96
cars and 837 motorcycles have been reported stolen for the same period.

Tiong was responding to a reply by Home Ministry to his question at the
Parliament session here today.  He had asked the Home Minister to explain the
statistics of missing or stolen vehicles in Sarawak according to the vehicle models within the period of six months this year.

He also asked whether the police had taken measures to combat the thefts of
vehicles especially if they were being used for criminal purposes in the State
especially in Bintulu.

Tiong said Home Minister had explained that the police with the co-operation
of other departments had deployed an integrated approach to combat thefts of
vehicles.

"A task force has been formed at the state police contingent especially to handle criminal cases that are related to stolen  vehicles," he said.

Over the past several months, the MP for Bintulu had been receiving calls from
his constituents that the vehicles' theft were on the rise especially in Bintulu and the residents of Bintulu had been reeling with anxiety over their stolen vehicles from four-wheeled drives to sedan cars.

He had called on the police and the Customs to carry integrated enforcement
operations to curb vehicle thefts in Sarawak especially Bintulu, urging the
police to carry out immediate police road-blocks at all main exits in Sarawak
including Bintulu.

He said the Customs should also do likewise at all exit points of the state to check on missing vehicles that are supected bound for export.

Similarly, the Indonesian counterparts should also carry out vehicles coming
into their territory.

Tiong said the authorities should check for especially four-wheel drives and pick -ups of Hi-Lux models, which seemed to be very popular among the thieves. 

"I believe that there is a syndicate stealing vehicles of all types from the ordinary sedan to the luxury car like the 4-wheel drives," he added.

Tiong also advised car and vehicle owners to keep a certified true copy of car
ownership documents to show proof that the vehicles were theirs.

Beside, he also urged the enforcement personel of the authories concerned to
properly check the vehicle chasing number, green car, road-tax to ensure the
legality of the vehicle... #END.