The Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association is taking urgent action to tackle copper theft and other illegal activity in the scrap metal trade, warning that the problem is threatening critical infrastructure and the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association Allan Ferguson says the association is adopting a proactive approach in the fight against copper theft, as repeated incidents continue to affect utilities, businesses and other critical infrastructure across the country.
“The problem most of us have by people breaking law is enforcement and things that we need to do. And I’m saying that we as an organization, we founded upon ourself to be police of our own industry. And we will pull a team together again to make sure that people follow the rules.”
Among the measures being proposed are tighter monitoring of scrap yards, and the licensing of scrap collectors and van operators.
So you wont be able to come into our yard with copper without proof that you buy it or where you get it from. You wouldn’t be able to do that again. So, Trinidad and Tobago, if you used to walk in a scrapyard with copper without proof of where you get it from, all these things will be a thing of the past.
Mr. Ferguson says the association also plans to introduce a cap on copper prices and reduce cash payments to make transactions easier to trace.
He warned that continued thefts could threaten the future of the scrap metal industry and the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
Mr Ferguson says the association is ready to begin enforcement initiatives as soon as government approval is secured.
“We decided that if we had to pay to enforce the law we will do it because as an organization we have to
be responsible because we have thousands and thousands of people working in this industry and we need to do as much as we could do and all we could do to save people’s jobs because if the industry shut down is thousands of people will be without a job.”
The scrap iron dealers association president was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday.