EDITORIAL - Reopening the scrap metal can of worms

It's kind of like a dog chasing its tail. Or as 'Yogi' Berra said, déjà vu all over again. No one is surprised at the theatrics cued by the announcement of an imminent resumption of the scrap metal trade.

Few issues have generated such national consensus and outrage as that regarding the grimy goblins of the scrap metal trade - the rapacious predators who have made enemies of just about everyone by pillaging public infrastructure such as bridges and manhole covers, while earning the wrath of businesses which suffer multimillion-dollar losses. We make no suggestion that all exporters have a hand in such illegality, but there are enough to make the matter a national scandal.

The cauldron of emotion sparked by the scrap metal trade has boiled over in fiery debate in the House of Representatives and simmering fury in roadside demonstrations by stakeholders who have lost their means of survival.

Huffing and puffing is a knee-jerk exercise. It frees a heaving breast of magmatic rage and afterwards imbues the venter with a sense of relief and achievement. But such ranting rarely, if ever, leads to sensible solutions, which are the fruit of cerebral musings.

The export of scrap metal was suspended, or banned, twice under the previous Jamaica Labour Party administration, triggered by a frustration with an inability to prevent a blending of the spoils of theft with the bona fide exports of formal traders, some of whom, presumably, were either criminally complicit or conveniently less than vigilant about the source of scrap.

Mr Anthony Hylton, the industry, investments and commerce minister since January, would find sympathy from his predecessors, Mr Karl Samuda and Dr Christopher Tufton, who both wrestled, unsuccessfully, with the problem.

Mr Hylton, and the People's National Party of which he is a member, had campaigned on the promise to reinstate the trade if the party won the December 2011 general election. Having done so, the drooling thieves licked their lips as they planned the piracy of public and private infrastructure.

On the weekend, the Jamaica Public Service Company revealed that armed scrap metal robbers attempted to break into its major storage facility in Kingston. This was the seventh such attack on its property. Already there have been anecdotal reports of manhole covers mysteriously getting up in the middle of the night and tiptoeing away.

BE CAREFUL

What is clear is that Mr Hylton must not cave in to the calls of expediency. He must not yield to the teary-eyed appeals to 'fly the gate'. He must not succumb to the lowest level of titillation of the ugly politician by wooing favour and placing in escrow votes for the next general election.

As we have acknowledged in these columns previously, the decision to ban the export of scrap metal was a sign of capitulation - an indication of the weakness of the State: a failure of the police to prosecute the metal predators, and the bureaucracy's incompetence at putting in place systems to ferret out illegitimate material.

That said, whining over, or bellowing at, the problem will be useless. We are suggesting an orientation towards finding solutions and implementing systems which are as impregnable as possible.

We urge the minister and his advisers to be meticulous and careful before reopening the trade. Whether centralised or satellite, sorting sites should be properly secured to prevent the corrupting tentacles from again taking hold. Stakeholders outside the belly of the trade must also have a say in the consultations.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.