Some 300 drain covers along a Hanoi Highway section in Ho Chi Minh City were damaged by thieves taking steel for sale as scrap, a representative of the highway operator told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, deputy director of Hanoi Highway Construction and Investment JSC, said that the company sought support from the authorities of Thu Duc City, where the highway section is located, to seek and handle those damaging the infrastructure along the section.

The damaged drain covers are mainly seen at the Cat Lai and Thu Duc intersections and an intersection in front of the main gate of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City.

A patrol team caught people red-handed demolishing drain covers last Tuesday.

They left their motorbike upon being detected and got away.

“Drain covers have been damaged several times. The company has later produced and installed new covers ourselves," Nam said.

“However, the number of demolished drain covers these days is large, so the company has to seek local authorities’ support."

Drain covers and equipment have also been stolen from residential areas and traffic infrastructure projects in the city.

Most recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways, the investor of the metro line No. 1 project, has sought Thu Duc City authorities’ support to ensure the safety and security of the metro line as several pieces of equipment on elevated sections were stolen.

Moreover, railcars of the metro line at Long Binh Depot were sprayed with graffiti twice.

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