A Scrap Iron Superhero

‘We can be more than a transhipment point for guns and drugs, we just must believe in ourselves and kids’

THERE are certain musical compositions that throughout the years have united all Trinbagonians. Together on the beat, everyone man, woman, child and pothound, belting out familiar lyrics.

Some of these anthems include the Pennywise and Chubby soft drink jingles from the 90’s, and now we have Buying Scrap Iron! Old Battery, Buying!

It had appeared a couple of weeks ago that the latter was in danger of being forever muted, when our prime minister, responding to East Port of Spain protests, pretty much pointed a finger at the scrap iron dealers for being the reason crime is out of control… dude.

Daily murders, alleged corruption within the police service and other government institutions, no big worry, but a couple of wires and manholes get lifted and its national security crisis!

The threatened crackdown on the scrap iron industry made absolutely zero sense. Let’s call a spade, a spade here and admit the government was simply looking for a scapegoat. Being the unglamorous and regularly ignored branch of our economy, the scrap iron industry was an easy target.

The local scrap iron industry in T&T exists with minimal regulations, checks and balances and almost zero national support. This is the problem the T&T Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) has been trying to rectify for YEAAARRRSSS.

They have been begging for their moment to shine, with their pleas often falling upon deaf ears. Let us not forget when the issue of capsized and abandoned ships left to rot in the Gulf of Paria came about. The scrap iron dealers were begging the Government and other powers to allow and assist them in the removal and scrapping of these vessels. No one took them on and guess what? There are still tens of thousand of tons of scrap iron floating and half floating in our waters, simply rusting away.

Now, I, myself, forever being a fan of the underdog was tickled pink with excitement when after much pleading the government finally found time to meet with the TTSIDA. A sub-committee (because you know we love those) was appointed by Rowley to investigate (scold and threaten) the scrap iron industry to tackle all that crime and bloodshed it is responsible for.

My new superhero TTSIDA President Allan Ferguson went into that meeting guns a blazing. He laid out some initiatives the association was putting in place to combat dodgy scrap iron practices. These included a system of registration that made legit scrap iron dealers easily identifiable, a guide for scrap iron dealers outlining the value of items and a system of identifying items that may not have been attained through legal means. He further stated he and the association are willing to report any errant dealers they come across. He then went on to lobby for scrap iron dealership licenses to extend from one year to five, which will encourage more dealers to get themselves properly licensed.

Now the subcommittee, from the reports, I’ve read all nodded their heads and made some more vague threats about crime and shutting up shop, but a las I remain hopeful that good sense will prevail.

Why? Because it makes no sense to shut down an entire industry because of a few rotten dealers (if that made sense half of the businesses in T&T would be shut down). Especially when the state of the industry is the way it is because of legislative neglect.

Hear me out, the scrap iron industry, if properly regulated and supported can be a consistent source of US income.

In 2020, the US earned USD $4.84 billion dollars through the export of scrap iron. Japan, in that same year, earned USD $2.79 billion from the export of scrap iron. Turkey, in 2020, spent roughly USD $ 6 billion on importing scrap iron and China has vowed to increase the amount of scrap iron it buys and imports to keep up with their developmental and manufacturing demands.

Imagine if we set up a facility to take in out-of-service oil tankers, cargo ships and other sea vessels to scrap and export? We are geographically primed to serve as a Western Atlantic hub for the Latin American and Caribbean markets.

We can be more than a transhipment point for guns and drugs, we just must believe in ourselves and kids.

This development leads to jobs and training opportunities.

You know what prevents crime? Jobs, jobs and empowerment. Shutting down an industry, just because a couple of crack heads stole some copper wire, really doesn’t solve anything.  If you want to solve crime, why not take on the drug dealers that create crack heads, form gangs, import weapons and so forth. Because that really seems to be the problem, not the piper walking down the road with a manhole cover hoping to sell it off so he can buy some more drugs and terrorize his community.

It just takes some long-term thinking, planning and willingness to explore the less glamorous side of our economy.

OH! Lastly, you know what would have gone nicely with an invigorated scrap iron industry? A smelter, but we aren’t ready for that conversation yet.