The world is indeed a global village and, with the increasingly easy communication between one country and the other, what happens in one place may replicated in several others.
Not so long ago, the Jamaican authorities were grappling with thieves making off with scrap metal from legitimate operations and selling to buyers, who for the most part were unaware of the origin of the booty.
Similarly in this country, we read of the Telephone Company suffering the loss of cables, and thousands of subscribers temporarily losing their ability to make calls. More recently, two businesses lost newly purchased wire to the rogues.
Now, the contagious metal thieving has reached the place of worship, the Catholic church Our Lady Of Sorrows in St Peter losing major portions of its roofing copper. The thieves’ action left the roof leaking from last week’s downpour. Buckets and other containers had to be used to catch the water.
And coming out of Britain this week has been a similarly nauseating account of thieves wreaking havoc on church roofs there. Some churches, on the point of bankruptcy, find themselves unable to afford repairs after being repeatedly targeted by the metal thieves.
It seems the huge demand for lead and copper in China, India and Brazil has spelt a sharp rise in the price of scrap and robbers have targeted monuments, railway stations and other buildings across Britain, with between 7 000 and 10 000 crimes a month being committed.                              Â
At least one church there has been closed after being robbed of its metals nine times; it faced such huge repair costs from water damage after its copper roof was compromised.
This must never happen here; and we call for a comprehensive and frontal attack on the problem. A look at the legislation and more effective monitoring of sales and exports should help, but these are matters in which the community must be engaged.
It has been suggested that much tougher sentencing is part of the solution. But in the end public alertness will be critical.
Most of these dastardly offences occur in the dead of night, but a thousand pairs of eyes can see much and may let these miscreants know that they are being watched and that the society disapproves of their wanton behaviour.
