By Sue-Ann Wayow
ALL blame should be placed on the Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) for not effectively dealing with the numerous incidents of cable theft which even resulted in death.
This is according to President of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) Allan Ferguson who said on Tuesday.
He said the TTISDA will not take any blame for the crimes committed as well as the crimes that went wrong.
At a press conference he said, “I want to make it clear today that I am putting all the blame on TSTT today and our association is not taking no blame for nobody climbing up no pole and thieving TSTT wire. I am not going to put my organisation to take no blame.”
And he is calling on the line minister, Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales to intervene in the situation.
Ferguson said that two months ago, TTSIDA wrote to TSTT asking to work with them to deal with the increasing number of thefts of wire belonging to the state-owned company.
He said the association asked TSTT to provide information so that TTSIDA could present a proposal even with payment.
A proposal was represented to representatives but not an in-depth one because TSTT did not provide the necessary information, Ferguson said
He added that TTSIDA was even willing to pay TSTT contractors to remove the wires.
Ferguson said, “It’s not that we are asking you all for money. We would have given them money and the thing about it, we would have paid them in US dollars for all these cable wires that people keep on thieving. Look at what is happening today. I put all these persons who got killed, I put all the blame on TSTT because TSTT had a way to move all these wires and that is why we have decided that we are not going to take blame.”
He said media reports have been stating that members of the association were taking the wires but Ferguson said those stealing the wires were people from off the streets “because it have a lil change, money for them.”
“These people who thieving TSTT wire have nothing to do with we organisation,” Ferguson said.
He said the association was the only knowledgeable one in the country with the ability to get rid of the wires especially since when TSTT have biddings, the TTSIDA was contacted.
TTSIDA wanted the minister to get involved because more deaths could take place.
He also called on TSTT to meet with TTSIDA to resolve the issue as TSTT was losing millions of dollars as a result.
According to Ferguson, a tonne of copper was worth more than $65, 000 and a shipping container holds about 20 tonnes and more.
The TTSIDA president also said no scrap iron yard in Trinidad would be able to fill a shipping container of copper as there were four main yards with the ability to do that.
He said, “We want to be able to stop all this set of killing before it gets worse. When people in a country where stealing and theft is one of the major thing and crime is one of the biggest things in this country, it will get worse before it get better and all we are asking for as an organisation is to help and stop what is taking place.”
For people who do not understand the scrap iron industry, the industry deals mainly with recycling and theft was actually hurting the industry, Ferguson said.
He also said he has been telling his members to not purchase any TSTT cable wires.
“If you do not have a market for it, nobody will go and thief. There are some people who we have no control over and that is why we are asking the Government to go to the Parliament and amend the Act so it will be that you must have to have a license to be able to purchase all these cable wire and scrap material but the Government are sticking with going to Parliament,” Ferguson said.
He added, “Because of this, Flow, Digicel are also having problems because them people who coming off the streets, they ain’t even know what’s TSTT wires too and they going and cutting other people wire, it is not just copper.”
TTSIDA has met with the police on the issue and was grateful for the work being done to hold persons accountable for the criminal activity.
“We know shortly the police will do their work more than what they are doing now,” he said.
Prior to the press conference, TTSIDA had issued a press release lamenting the deaths and that most of the men arrested for stealing were young.
To date, TSTT has not yet spoken publicly about the issue even with numerous police reports being published in the media.
Member of Parliament for Pointe-a-Pierre David Lee told AZP News that TSTT should take full responsibility for the removal of the wires.
He said persons in his constituency have complained that people running on their roofs in the middle of the night to steal wires and it was cause for serious concern and intervention by the relevant authorities.
