Scrap Iron Dealers Call For Action As Copper Cable Theft Continues
There are growing concerns by the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) over the continued theft of copper cables and other metals.
This comes as reports of copper cables and other metals being stolen, disrupting the lives of citizens and the operations of some institutions.
President of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association, Allan Ferguson, is once again calling on the perpetrators of the act to immediately stop, saying the scrap iron industry cannot manage another ban.
Speaking to TTT News, he condemned the act, calling it « unacceptable ».
« The people who are continuing to go and interfering with the institution and people’s homes and different companies and different government institutions, I am please telling you to resist from doing that. »
He urged scrap metal dealers to be mindful of what they are purchasing.
« All the people who is buying copper and operating as a scrap dealer, we’re asking them to be careful of what they buy. Take very careful eye on what you’re buying to bring in your yard because buying these material and buying these copper, all it can do is just destroy our industry. »
Commenting on the most recent report of theft at the Children’s Authority in Lambeau, Tobago, where over $12,000 in cables were stolen, Mr. Ferguson said TTSIDA is seeking a meeting with the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine.
« Whilst we speak, I think a letter will be going out to him to find some way to deal with this problem in Tobago. Because the Tobago problem might be a much easier problem to deal with, but we need to sit down with the Tobago House of Assembly to find a way how to deal with this problem. And I think alongside that take place, I think all the problems we could be able to deal with. Not only the Tobago House of Assembly, with the TTPS in Tobago and all too, and I think things could work in the current way. »
In 2022, an increase in theft of copper and other metals led the Government to place a ban on the scrap metal industry.
Mr. Ferguson said this negatively impacted the lives of thousands of citizens who depend on the industry daily.
