Telecoms renew calls for stiffer penalties for vandals, thieves

Labelling the practice as a threat to national security, the country’s two main telecommunications providers, Flow and Digicel, are urging legislators to enact stiffer penalties for individuals who vandalise and steal their equipment.

For years, both Flow and Digicel have bemoaned the millions of dollars they have lost as a direct result of vandalism and theft with the issue adding to the losses they have racked up due to Hurricane Melissa’s wrath.

Both companies have reported losing batteries, fuel, and cables, as well as other items. Electricity provider the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has also not been spared.

In a release on Tuesday, JPS revealed that efforts to restore electricity to customers in St Ann have been significantly set back by the theft and vandalism of wires from its power delivery network on Sunday.

Sunday’s incident came less than one week after a newly planted utility pole in Bonham Spring in the parish was deliberately cut at its base, resulting in customers whose service had been restored losing electricity.

Now Flow and Digicel are complaining that, even as they fight to restore thousands of customers with service, their efforts are being thwarted by vandals and thieves.

Addressing yesterday’s sitting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), Stephen Price, Flow Jamaica vice president and general manager, called for stiffer penalties.

“Vandalism is a real problem and, yes, there has been success with arrests and court cases but it remains a challenge. We have diesel oil, batteries stolen from site, cables being cut. When JPS poles are chopped down that impacts us as well. We have to bring it to the level of state terrorism. It is an attack on the state,” Price said.

The need to assign a terrorism label to the vandalism and theft of telecommunications infrastructure is a position long held and voiced by Price, who has previously argued that an act of vandalism of telecoms infrastructure could be prosecuted under the Terrorism Prevention Act with a penalty of life imprisonment. d.

“Imagine a situation where people can’t contact the police or fire in an emergency. So, whatever we have to use, whatever mechanism for Parliament to act on that with urgency so we see stiffer penalties and longer terms.”

Under Section 29 of the Malicious Injuries to Property Act, the punishment imposed would be, on indictment, imprisonment for up to, but not in excess of, two years, with or without hard labour, or summarily, imprisonment up to, but not in excess of, three months with or without hard labour or a fine of $4,000.

The island’s two major telecommunications firms may be competitors chasing the same market share but yesterday they were at one accord as Price’s call was shared by Stephen Murad, Digicel Group’s chief executive officer.

“There is no way we can allow the mindless minority to stop people getting what they need. My job is not to legislate but imagine you get restored and then five minutes, or however number of minutes or hours, that is taken down and then our customers question what we are doing; and I am not saying this because we are looking for sympathy. We need greater deterrence. This is a threat to national security.”

The companies noted that, amid their appeal for legislative action, they are implementing their own measures to better protect their resources but would not disclose those measures publicly.

karen.madden@gleanerjm.com