Tweet
Peter Bunting's shyness on scrap metals ban
Thursday, November 01, 2007
We have no doubt that Mr Peter Bunting, the Opposition spokesman on industry and commerce, is well intentioned and not being coy when he suggests that the Government was being too hasty in suspending exports of scrap metals.
His suggestion that legitimate exporters be allowed to continue trading while a security system was instituted, is also understandable, because the ban announced by Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Karl Samuda Tuesday will mean a short-term loss of earnings for exporters and possible job loss for related workers.
But we think that Mr Bunting has not brought the necessary rigour to bear in arriving at that suggestion. The scrap metal business is posing a serious danger to this country, as it is doing elsewhere in the world and demands firm and decisive action.
Mr Samuda said the ban was in response to the stealing of public property, such as bridge railings and manhole covers, as well as private property for sale as scrap metal for export, and which had reached crisis proportions. According to the minister, the benefits from the export of the metals were competing with losses of local infrastructure.
A week ago, the minister had signalled that he would table a Ministry Paper outlining measures to control the export of scrap metal, including a licensing regime to bring accountability to the industry and to protect lives and properties. That he has followed through with such determination is commendable.
There have been reports of unprecedented levels of theft of valuable functional metal objects, such as parts of bridges, manhole covers, railway lines, and copper cable which has made Cable and Wireless a prime target.
The booming international trade in scrap metals, for which China, India and other rapidly industrialising countries have an insatiable appetite, is no doubt behind the hunger here in Jamaica for the commodity.
Figures from the Jamaica Exporters' Association show that the value of exports of scrap metal moved from US$13.3 million in 2005 to US$99.58 million in 2006, an increase of over 600 per cent in a single year.
However, we do not believe that the many cases of petty theft of things like manhole covers, reusable steel wire, cable, steel billets, crushed car bodies, metal rails and the like, could happen without a willing buyer and able exporter. Some 'Mr Bigs' are behind it and the welfare of the nation clearly does not figure in their nefarious plans.
It seems that is frequently the case in other countries where the trade has recently mushroomed. In one of the most extreme examples, thieves in Tanzania raided major power transit cables, causing widespread power outages.
Dar es Salaam, the capital, was rocked by bomb blasts when hand grenades, which were piled among huge stocks of scrap iron presumably intended for export, went off.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the bombs had been smuggled in possibly from neighbouring war-torn countries. It was sheer luck that the bombs did not go off in export cargo on a ship on the high seas.
We certainly don't want to wait until the trade has spun out of control here to stop the uncouth, unpatriotic vandals posing as scrap metal dealers.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
We have no doubt that Mr Peter Bunting, the Opposition spokesman on industry and commerce, is well intentioned and not being coy when he suggests that the Government was being too hasty in suspending exports of scrap metals.
His suggestion that legitimate exporters be allowed to continue trading while a security system was instituted, is also understandable, because the ban announced by Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Karl Samuda Tuesday will mean a short-term loss of earnings for exporters and possible job loss for related workers.
But we think that Mr Bunting has not brought the necessary rigour to bear in arriving at that suggestion. The scrap metal business is posing a serious danger to this country, as it is doing elsewhere in the world and demands firm and decisive action.
Mr Samuda said the ban was in response to the stealing of public property, such as bridge railings and manhole covers, as well as private property for sale as scrap metal for export, and which had reached crisis proportions. According to the minister, the benefits from the export of the metals were competing with losses of local infrastructure.
A week ago, the minister had signalled that he would table a Ministry Paper outlining measures to control the export of scrap metal, including a licensing regime to bring accountability to the industry and to protect lives and properties. That he has followed through with such determination is commendable.
There have been reports of unprecedented levels of theft of valuable functional metal objects, such as parts of bridges, manhole covers, railway lines, and copper cable which has made Cable and Wireless a prime target.
The booming international trade in scrap metals, for which China, India and other rapidly industrialising countries have an insatiable appetite, is no doubt behind the hunger here in Jamaica for the commodity.
Figures from the Jamaica Exporters' Association show that the value of exports of scrap metal moved from US$13.3 million in 2005 to US$99.58 million in 2006, an increase of over 600 per cent in a single year.
However, we do not believe that the many cases of petty theft of things like manhole covers, reusable steel wire, cable, steel billets, crushed car bodies, metal rails and the like, could happen without a willing buyer and able exporter. Some 'Mr Bigs' are behind it and the welfare of the nation clearly does not figure in their nefarious plans.
It seems that is frequently the case in other countries where the trade has recently mushroomed. In one of the most extreme examples, thieves in Tanzania raided major power transit cables, causing widespread power outages.
Dar es Salaam, the capital, was rocked by bomb blasts when hand grenades, which were piled among huge stocks of scrap iron presumably intended for export, went off.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the bombs had been smuggled in possibly from neighbouring war-torn countries. It was sheer luck that the bombs did not go off in export cargo on a ship on the high seas.
We certainly don't want to wait until the trade has spun out of control here to stop the uncouth, unpatriotic vandals posing as scrap metal dealers.
Comment