KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) has voiced its concern about the frequent reports of copper cable theft affecting the telecommunications industry.

The PSOJ says it has been briefed on the issue by its members — Digicel, Flow and LIME — and has seen where the “illicit activity has caused disruption of vital communications services, threatening the viability of businesses and the very livelihood of self-employed persons who depend on the utilities.”

These seemingly unabated incidents threaten public safety and pose serious national security concerns since affected communities would have been willfully cut off from vital emergency services, the PSOJ said in a release Thursday.

“We cannot expect to attract substantial investments in a society where a company’s assets is at risk of theft, which in many instances goes unpunished and doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. We have already seen the significant damage that praedial larceny has done to the attractiveness of agriculture as an investment, and the losses sustained by JPS, which law abiding citizens have to carry,” said PSOJ President William Mahfood.

The PSOJ said that it is now of the view that tampering with phone lines should be deemed a serious crime, “just as we condemn the stealing of electricity from Jamaica Public Service.”

The organisation said that it is therefore calling on the government to implement legislation that will allow stiffer penalties for people convicted of vandalizing or stealing telephone cables.

In addition the PSOJ is calling on Minister of Investment, Industry and Commerce, Anthony Hylton to amend the existing Scrap Metal Regulations to aggressively sanction the recyclers and exporters who knowingly buy from copper thieves.

“We acknowledge the minister’s prior efforts to create order in the scrap metal export trade through tighter regulations and the imposition of restrictions on copper exports. However, the PSOJ is convinced that it is time for a fresh round of sanctions, supported by stronger administrative capacity to ensure stricter adherence,” the business leaders said.

If left unchecked, copper cable theft could have serious implications for Jamaica’s improving perception as an attractive option for investors, especially the much touted logistics centre, since the reliability of a modern telecommunications infrastructure remains a key criterion for doing business, they added.