Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales believes the scrap iron industry needs to be regulated.
“The reason why people do those things is there is a market for it and that market is quite profitable,” he said yesterday.
His comment came after thieves stole copper from pipe lines in Upper Bournes Road, St James, earlier this week, leaving water wasting as the connections were all left broken.
Gonzales said he was very disappointed at the activity that ld to the situation, but said this was not the first time that the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) was robbed by copper thieves. He said the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) also has its own challenges with copper theft.
“I said that we continue to descend to new levels in Trinidad and Tobago…a number of WASA wells are victims of these types of attacks a number of its infrastructure,” he said.
Gonzales compared the theft to terrorism as many people will be out of water supply until the pipes are replaced.
“We are living in really challenging times. I consider this to be a very serious crime. It appears as though a number of customers in that area will be impacted by this incident,” he said.
The minister said district engineers were sent to access the damage. (CL)