POLICE URGES BPC TO SAFEGUARD CABLES Mochudi police station commander, Superintendent Olebile Sitale has called on Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) to improve security at their sites to curb theft of copper cables. In an interview recently, Superintendent Sitale suggested that BPC should take a cue from the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), which drastically reduced instances of theft at their sites. He said BTC had since upgraded their security resulting in low theft cases. “With the improved cable security, when someone cuts the cable, it reports to BTC or the hired security company,” he said. Superintendent Sitale said BPC had reported 12 cases in May whereas in June they received 23 cases of stolen copper cables. The estimated value of the copper stolen amounted to about P180 000.He said they made eight arrests at a certain scrap yard in Pilane, adding that six of the arrested individuals have already been charged with possession of suspected stolen property while one was still being investigated. Superintendent Sitale further said one suspect was exonerated since he was able to account for the copper in his possession. From the look of things, he said, copper cables were in high demand in scrap yards, adding that police raided scrap yards every week in search of stolen cables. He said arrangements had been made for potential sellers to register with scrap yards every time they make a transaction. With the registration the seller’s names and identity card number are captured making it easy for the police to track those suspected to have sold stolen copper cables. He said cable covers were usually removed making identification by BPC difficult. (BOPA)
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:50:52 +0000
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