Negligence and violators behind building thefts are under construction

Negligence and failure to take appropriate precautions in buildings under construction causes many theft crimes. The reality also confirms the repetition of incidents behind guards in violation of those buildings, who participated in the commission of the crime, or passed on information to their partners to facilitate theft of the site, seizing building materials, cables and electrical wires, cutting and selling them.

Sharjah police reported that they received 402 communications within 18 months, confirming that "most of the thefts occur as a result of the guard's complicity with others in its implementation, in addition to negligence on the part of the contractor and the owner."

In turn, the Sharjah municipality indicated that its periodic visits to the sites under construction are aimed at ensuring the commitment of contractors to apply safety requirements therein, “As for providing a guard on the site to protect it from theft, it is up to the contractor, and the municipality does not oblige him to do so.”

The «Emirates Today» monitored cases considered by the Sharjah Criminal and Misdemeanor Court regarding the theft of buildings under construction, committed by gangs and people of different nationalities.

Two legal persons affirmed that he shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than a year and a financial fine or both penalties for anyone who carried out a crime of theft or participated in it, or in the event of committing a theft from one of the inhabited places or intended for housing or in one of its attachments, indicating that the punishment is severe in the case of using Weapon, coercion and assault on the safety of others.

In detail, the Director General of Police Operations in Sharjah Police, Brigadier Mohammed Rashid Bayat, said that the administration launched an extensive awareness campaign on protecting the buildings under construction from theft crimes, which comes within the framework of the strategic plan of the Ministry of Interior, aimed at enhancing security and safety.

Bayat explained that police statistics and reports indicated that negligence on the part of some public and private institutions, homeowners under construction, and failure to take preventive measures directly contributed to many theft crimes, and enabled the perpetrators to implement their plans easily.

He emphasized that the number of reports of housing under construction, which were stolen during the period from the beginning of 2018 until the first half of 2019, amounted to about 402 reports.

And that most of the thefts occur as a result of two things, the first being the collusion of the guard with others in carrying out theft crimes, and the second is neglecting the contractor and the owner alike.

He explained that «some contracting companies use people in violation of the residence law, or companies that work under the name of the main company, so the guards pass on information to others confirming the site’s readiness to steal, and they take over building materials or cables and electrical wires, cut them and sell them. As for neglect, there are many stories.

In turn, the director of the Engineering Department in the Sharjah Municipality, Engineer Yaqoub Al Zarouni, stressed the municipality’s keenness to make periodic visits to the sites under construction to ensure the contractor’s commitment to applying safety requirements on the site, in order to maintain public safety.

He added that the municipality does not require the contractor or the owner of the building under construction to provide a guard at the site to protect it from theft, pointing out that the matter in appointing a guard belongs to the contractor and the municipality does not oblige him to do so.

And «Emirates Today» monitored cases due to the neglect of the buildings' owners, and in one of them, four people entered a site under construction at night, assaulted and tied the guard, and stole building materials from inside the company’s warehouse.

Police investigations, in a recent robbery case, showed that a building guard was involved in a theft crime, as he agreed with a gang to restrict him and make a scenario that shows him as a victim of assault from its members, while he is their partner.

In another case, two people were accused, one of whom was working for the company that had been stolen, as he used a bus that tracks his workplace to steal equipment and transport it for 1,000 dirhams. A third case was the cause of the theft, the guard’s sleep and lack of attention to the warehouses, as four masked persons managed to enter his room, tied him, broke his phone, stole building materials and electrical wires and sold them.

In a different case, which included a kind of humor, people were unable to leave the warehouse of a building under construction due to the extra vehicle load, as they were unable to remove the vehicle from the site they had stolen after loading the stolen material and increasing the loads in it, which enabled the building guard to contact the police after he was able Untie his restrictions.

In another case, the reason for the theft was the lack of a building guard, and responsibility was placed on the contractor. The Sharjah Misdemeanor Court had examined a case resulting from the neglect of the guard, leaving the site for a period of time, and unknown persons took advantage of this by entering it, cutting cables and pulling electrical wires.

The criminal court also examined a case of theft of a building under construction, which was carried out during the guard's sleep, as a gang entered the site, and within less than an hour managed to cut electrical wires, pull them away and escape away, while the guard remained asleep, and when he woke up, he found out that the site had been stolen.

Sharjah Police confirmed that the theft from the housing under construction lies in two phases, the first is the construction and building, and the second is the finishing phase, adding that most communications are in the second phase, and theft and electric wires are often targeted, due to the high market value, indicating that the negligence of the contractor and the lack of insurance The facility, is one of the most important causes of thefts in construction sites.

In turn, Lawyer Laila Hamza Al-Mulla said that the law is punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than a year if the theft occurred in any of the following cases: in the money owned by any party, and the inhabited places or intended for housing or one of its attachments, by breaking it or using artificial keys, or Without the consent of the owner, or impersonating a false or generic characteristic, and using a tool in carrying out the crime to transport the loot.

She added, "The punishment will be increased in the event of theft, coercion, or assaulting the safety of others."

The legal advisor, lawyer Muhammad Rizq Al-Hefni, confirmed that participation in theft or criminal participation, according to Article 44 of Federal Law No. 3 of 1987, stipulated that “the perpetrator of the crime is considered to be the one who committed it alone or was a direct partner in it. The partner is direct in several cases. Of them, if he commits the crime with others, or if he participates in the commission of it and it consists of a set of actions, then he intentionally comes as one of the actions that constitute it, or if someone else mocks any means to carry out the act that constitutes the crime and this was not criminally responsible for it for any reason ».

He continued: «Article 45 of the same law stipulated that he is considered a partner in causing the crime, whoever incites to commit it and signed according to this incitement, and whoever agrees with others to commit it is signed according to this agreement, and whoever gave the perpetrator a weapon, machines, or anything else Use it to commit the crime with his knowledge of it, or intentionally assisting the perpetrator in any other way in the actions that are prepared, facilitated, or complementary to the commission of the crime.

He pointed out that one of the most important reasons for stealing buildings under construction was that a security guard was not placed on the site.

5 guidelines to avoid theft of buildings under construction

Sharjah Police confirmed that there are five guidelines that owners of buildings under construction must adhere to, in order to avoid thefts, they are:

■ Commitment to keep construction materials and equipment in a safe place.

■ Use solar powered spotlights around facility sites to facilitate night observation.

Assigning guardianship to workers trained in guarding work, or contracting with security companies specializing in this field.

■ Solar powered surveillance cameras equipped with alarm bells and kinetic alarm.

■ Report any suspicious movements around the site, or that any material or equipment has been stolen.

A building guard agreed with a gang to handcuff him and made a scenario that would show him a victim of assault.