Thieves caught with FLOW fibre

Telecommunications company FLOW says it has been collaborating with the police, and two recent incidents signal its zero-tolerance approach to cable theft and vandalism.

FLOW said in a release that on October 23, about 2:15 a.m., the St Catherine police seized a white Tiida motor car with burnt copper cables suspected to be the property of FLOW Jamaica.

FLOW said the police, during a spot check in Braeton, Portmore, St Catherine, signalled the car to stop.

However, the car sped off with the gunmen aboard firing at them.

The police said the vehicle was found abandoned on Brunswick Avenue in Spanish Town.

The police have informed FLOW that a man who turned up at the Spanish Town Hospital with a gunshot wound is being questioned in relation to the incident.

"This incident shows vividly the problems FLOW is having on a daily basis. We are certainly happy the authorities are stepping up the pressure to ensure that the nation is protected against cable thieves. The issue affects services to all our customers, including the critical and essential services," said Gail Abrahams, director of corporate communications and stakeholder relationships at FLOW.

case involving vandalism

In the meantime, FLOW has a case before the courts dealing with the issue of vandalism to its infrastructure.

Reports are that on October 14, about 2 a.m., the Point Hill police accosted two men.

The police reported to FLOW that one of the men escaped with cables measuring 392 feet in a truck. The police later recovered the cable.

The FLOW security team visited the area as well as the police station where the cables were identified as the property of FLOW.

Kemar Mullings, of a St Catherine address, was arrested and charged with simple larceny of the cables.

Mullings was remanded on October 27 and is booked to reappear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court on November 10.