2009-10-01
CLOSER MONITORING OF SCRAP METAL INDUSTRY
Minister of Industry, Investment & Commerce, Karl Samuda has given members of the Scrap Metal Association one month to use all appropriate measures to determine whether any members are engaged in the illegal activity of purchasing stolen metal for export. In addition, the Minister is to set up mechanisms to monitor locations engaged in the packaging of scrap metals for export.
Minister Samuda who made the announcement at a press conference this morning, said the move had become necessary because of the re-emergence of the wholesale theft of metals that threaten the country’s infrastructure.
He said railway lines were again being stolen and sold; factories engaged in the production of aluminum and copper products had fallen victim to thieves; and copper wire and telephone cables were being removed and stolen.
The Minister said he had held frank discussions with the Scrap Metal Association members, and he had put them on notice that he would be assembling teams to conduct random inspection of their business sites.
The Minister emphasized that wherever illegal practices were discovered then perpetrators would be punished to the full extent of the law; which include a $3-million dollar fine, confiscation of the stolen property, arrest and the possibility of a jail sentence. In addition, the licence to trade would be rescinded.