A reward of $500,000 is up for grabs if persons can help telephone giant, identify those responsible for sabotaging its cables. The Telephone Company in a statement said that less than two months after publicly highlighting repeated sabotage of GTT’s infrastructure, the disturbing trend has resurfaced with two acts of back to back sabotage of cables during this week.
On September 12 and 13, 300 metres of cable in the vicinity of New Hope and Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara were cut and removed, affecting voice and data services to over 400 customers.
During a July 26, 2017, joint press conference with the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and GTT, Minister, Katy Hughes stressed that, “at the end of the day it is important to recognize that the new Telecommunications Agency will have the responsibility to issue new licences,” and was unequivocal in pointing out that should information be revealed identifying any singular entity, then they would be censured when it comes to being granted licences.
Commenting on the continued and recent sabotage, GTT’s, CEO Justin Nedd, said “these malicious acts are being conducted by persons who understand the telecoms system and are bent on impeding the company’s progress for their own selfish gains.”
GTT, according to its Public Relations Office, Allison Parker, intends to meet with the Ministers of Public Security, Business and Public Telecommunications to holistically address the issue.
In the meantime, it was revealed that engineers and other resources allocated for scheduled works have since been diverted to restore service to the affected customers.
The previous success in capturing and prosecuting some of saboteurs was made possible through the vigilance of community members “who acted on our appeal to say something if they see something,” said Parker.
As such she noted that GTT reminds the public to maintain the level of alertness and to report any act or suspicious act of cable sabotage to the company’s confidential hotline 226-2764.