Georgetown: The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) has recorded 52 acts of vandalism which saw a total of 6490 customers from East Berbice to Linden being directly affected since the year started.
Occurrences of vandalism, the phone giant said, have spiralled out of control, noting that the deliberate, mindless destruction of, or damage to the country’s telecommunications facilities is not new.
The utility company stated that the cumulative effect of these acts have been the disruption of the lives and livelihoods of thousands of households and businesses; the threat posed to personal and national security; the unplanned expenditure of millions of dollars by the company in civil works, repairs and service restoration; the diversion of materials and personnel from routine activities to address emergencies; and the loss of millions in revenues consequent upon the cessation of telecommunications traffic.
“This state of affairs is unacceptable and unsustainable. And, insofar as network vandalism affects all of us, all of us must participate in this scourge. We have done everything in our power to protect the network and in the process we have received continued support from the Guyana Police Force.”
The company called for the much-needed support of the Government, the regulatory agencies and the entire populace to correct the situation. More importantly, GT&T appealed to individuals and institutions to partner with the company in the protection of the national telecommunications network.
“Observe what is happening in your neighbourhood or community; call us on 0908 to report suspicious activities directed at the network; in short, act as our eyes and ears,” it said.
In light of the recent destruction, the company has warned that the network facilities that serve the Guyanese populace may be targeted next; hence, it is calling on the public for support in terms of reporting vandalism. “It cannot be sufficient to simply press the company to expedite repairs and service restoration after the fact. Remember too that any information you share with us will be treated with the strictest confidence and that GT&T will offer a meaningful reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the apprehension of vandals and their prosecution,” the company stated.
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