ABRAHAMS WARNS STEALING DIESEL FROM CRITICAL SITES COULD BE CRIPPLING IN EMERGENCY
By Jenique Belgrave
Diesel thieves are targeting the emergency services.
“Lawless” people have already struck several hurricane shelters and other emergency assets around the island, said a visibly upset Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams on Friday.
He told the media that the latest attempted theft on Thursday night at the Barbados Meteorological Service’s (BMS) radar at Castle Grant, St Joseph was thwarted.
“I got a call from [Director of the BMS] Sabu Best, who is overseas, to tell me that the security company alerted them that some people were in the process of breaking into the big radar in St Joseph…. They went, the people ran away and then the people came back. The police were dispatched to the area and the persons fled the scene. They left behind a number of filled five-gallon containers of diesel and in the roadway leading up to it we found other empty containers, so they intended to drain that diesel tank,” Abrahams disclosed.
“That radar installation is critical for early warning, it is critical for us to be able to see what is going on; that radar cannot be down. That radar also informs the Air Traffic Control of weather systems and is critical to the national security of Barbados. It must operate 24/7. It cannot be interrupted if the electricity goes down…. That radar actually provides a service to other Caribbean territories as well.”
Abrahams called the situation “unacceptable”.
Unable to quantify how much fuel had been stolen since the thefts began months ago, the Home Affairs Minister stressed that the situation was particularly worrying as it impacted the ability of emergency services to respond quickly in the case of an event.
“We put ourselves at a disadvantage when we have to allow those tanks to be empty and then be rushing around trying to fill them before a weather event because people insist on stealing diesel…. Enough is enough!” he said.
Abrahams noted that there were way too many of these facilities around the island to be policed nightly, but said anyone caught red-handed should feel the full weight of the law.
Two weeks ago, Acting Public Relations Officer of the Barbados Police Service, Inspector Stephen Griffith reported that criminals had been stealing both diesel and gasoline from worksites and vehicles across the country, using various techniques to siphon fuel from storage tanks.
He reminded the public that purchasing stolen fuel products is illegal and persons found handling stolen goods could be prosecuted.
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb
