Scrap-metal dealers moving to protect the industry

THE GROUP that represents scrap-metal traders has proposed a reduction in the number of players in the industry by eliminating those who are not operating within the established guidelines.

Jonathan Aarons, who heads the Scrap Metal Federation of Jamaica, said a smaller industry would be easier to manage and control.

"Some will have to go out of business to protect the industry, because there are too many (scrap metal) sites on the island, so it's much more difficult to manage," Aarons told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

This is one of several suggestions the federation has put to Dr Christopher Tufton, new minister of industry, investment and commerce, who has threatened to shut down the scrap-metal trade over the growing theft of millions of dollars in metals across the island.

The federation is also suggesting that scrap-metal dealers be asked to put up a $3 million bond.

"If a company should lose metal or machinery, and the investigation is done, and company X (scrap-metal dealer) is found guilty, then this bond would be there to replace those items," he explained.

The other proposals, Aarons said, include limiting scrap-metal traders to a single export point and a 24-hour video surveillance of every container to be shipped overseas.

The scrap-metal trade has been blamed for the theft of important artefacts and millions of dollars worth of equipment owned by the National Water Commission and the Jamaica Public Service Company.

Aarons explained that the video surveillance system would ensure that these items do not end up in the trade.

customs authorisation

He said under the regulations governing the scrap-metal trade, the changing of the form of any piece of metal can only be authorised by a customs officer, and must be done in his or her presence.

"We are proposing to network all the sites on the island, and to have one central point where the Customs Department or any other regulatory agency will have password access, and they can view the daily activities at each site," he said.

"If there should be any form of interruption (in the video feed), then the onus would be on us to empty that container and reload it. This would protect the integrity of the export," he added.

Tufton, who met with the scrap- metal dealers last Thursday, has given them one and a half week to make recommendations on how to better regulate the industry.

Failing this, he warned that shutting down the industry was one of the options the Government would consider.

On Tuesday, Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie blamed scrap- metal and cash-for-gold traders for the desecration of more than 100 graves at the May Pen Cemetery on the weekend.

Aarons cautioned against a rush to blame the scrap-metal trade for the desecration of the graves.

He described it an act of "lunacy" and called for a full investigation to identify and punish the perpetrators.