It was seven years ago that I came across the term 'tonto'. The word is an acronym for "tolong orang tipu orang" which, based on past cases could mean anything from those who act as middlemen between perpetrators of various illegal activities such as stealing public property and sensitive documents to, helping bribe government officials to obtain favours or information on any operations to be carried out by enforcement officials .

This word, upon closer scrutiny of past cases, is associated with other two words 'incompetence' and 'corruption', which of late have been popularised by our new premier.

Indeed these words are closely associated both in meaning and practice. The latest case involves the stealing of sand from government lands in Batang Berjuntai as reported in an English daily.

It started with a barrage of public complaints against the local authorities for not having taken appropriate action to protect public land from being abused apart from the noise pollution and danger posed by the heavy vehicles transporting the stolen sand.

The response was that there was no proof of such thing happening at all. On being pressed by the public harder, the response was that the band of culprits was elusive and that they have 'tontos' who pre-warned them.

Then there was the assurance from executive council member Abdul Patah Iskandar that all vehicles used for transporting the stolen sand would be impounded. Indeed, the operation was successful with 45 heavy vehicles and excavators seized.

However, these machines were reported to be "stolen" back by the sand thieves with the help of insiders and tontos. The machines were apparently driven away in the wee hours of the morning. How could 45 huge and slow-moving vehicles be moved within a day without anybody realising it.

This case clearly demonstrates how ineffective, incompetent and corrupt all these authorities are. If complement is to be given than it should be given to the sand thieves and the tontos.

From recollection, this cock-and-bull story has been going on for the past seven years. First, we heard of tontos frustrating anti-vice officials on their surprise operations at various vice dens in the city. Then city hall officials were outsmarted by illegal business operators who disappeared minutes before they arrive, the same goes for road transport department officials and the police.

Now what are the authorities really doing about this apart from being silent accomplices?