FIRST, IT happened to Alumina Partners of Jamaica Ltd. On July 19, 2002 fire was set at Knockpatrick to the company's conveyor belt which transports bauxite from the Manchester plateau to its alumina plant at Nain, St. Elizabeth, damaging 800 feet of the belt which is more than nine miles long.
This act of vandalism threatened the company's operations and the jobs of scores of employees. It cost Alpart $20 million and it took all of two weeks to repair the damage.
Alpart offered a $250,000 reward for information identifying the arsonist but to-date it is no nearer to finding the perpetrator.
On October 16, vandals demanding 'protection' money, instead of seeking gainful employment, set fire to Digicel's cellular telephone site at Flower Hill, near to Montego Bay, St. James, after the company rejected their demand. The damage will cost $15 million to repair, Digicel says. According to Seamus Lynch, the boss in Jamaica of the Irish company, the fire to the key site knocked out 20 of the company's other cellular sites in western Jamaica.
Mr. Lynch was quoted as saying, "I don't support the concept and Digicel does not support the concept of paying protection money".
The Sunday Gleaner reported Cable and Wireless, Jamaica, Ltd., as saying that protection money had been demanded from that company also and that it had refused to pay.
We agree with the refusal of both Cable and Wireless and Digicel to pay extortioners.
Where we part company with Digicel, however, is with that company's decision to ask the police not to pursue the matter.
Extortion is a felony and it should be pursued relentlessly by the police although it is difficult for them to bring perpetrators to justice without the co-operation of the complainant - Digicel, in this case.
Setting fire to Digicel's cellular telephone site is arson. It is a serious crime not only against Digicel's property but against the State. The police must put the required resources into tracking down the persons who committed the crime and bring them to justice.
We must never in this country give in to extortioners and kidnappers. The minute we do so we cede the authority of the State to anarchists. That would signal the certain death of a nation governed by the rule of law.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
