NewsWhore
10-11-2006, 06:40 PM
People have been stealing electric wires for decades, and the recent boom in scrap steel and other metals is creating an even larger market for the stolen items. According to El Caribe, the nation does not have the legislation to put a stop to this type of crime. The paper says that low tension and medium tension power lines are most vulnerable. Since 1972 the newspapers have carried stories of stolen power lines. The first one was 900 feet of cable that belonged to the old CDE. In 1980 the robberies were extended to include telephone cables, sewer covers, fences in public parks and zoos and even the swords of the most distinguished national heroes. Both the metal working industry and the electricity distributors call these crimes "very serious" and complain about the fact that there are no legal mechanisms to put a halt to the stealing and put the criminals in jail. Data from the Dominican Export Center (CEI-RD) shows that over the first eight months of 2006 the country exported nearly 108 million kilograms of scrap metals and produced US$22 million, an increase of US$16.6 million over 2005. The electricity companies are losing RD$31 million in replacement cables.
A case in point is the story in today's Hoy newspaper, which reports that the thieves who stole power cables from the Americas causeway recently were actually apprehended by police officers and were immediately released without further action. Simon Diaz, spokesperson for the National Police, said that if they can establish that this is true there would be a full investigation into the events. According to Hoy, there was an attempt to steal the cables last Sunday, but the would-be thieves were caught in the act, and released.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)
A case in point is the story in today's Hoy newspaper, which reports that the thieves who stole power cables from the Americas causeway recently were actually apprehended by police officers and were immediately released without further action. Simon Diaz, spokesperson for the National Police, said that if they can establish that this is true there would be a full investigation into the events. According to Hoy, there was an attempt to steal the cables last Sunday, but the would-be thieves were caught in the act, and released.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)