Crime syndicates continue to hamper drive to connect everyone digitally
Mobile Telecommunications Ltd, MTC, drive to connect every Namibian with quality network connectivity is being pushed back by crime syndicates who steal equipment from the towers and leave sites vandalised.
This follows the recent theft of 6Fmx-200 backup batteries and radio equipment at one of the telco’s sites in the Otjomuise area.
According to the Communications Manager at MTC, John Ekongo, this criminal act has a negative effect on the economy and hinders the company’s progress in providing connectivity service.
“Break-ins in Base Transceiver Station (BTS) disrupt the economic activities, and it is rather
incomprehensible that our very own people are the ones stealing and destroying the infrastructure which serve them. We are now forced to go back and re-invest in fixing the damaged site (s), causing a delay in our drive to put up new sites in underserved areas.”
According to Ekongo, “some of the sites are erected in areas where there is no power supply and run strictly on deep cycle batteries and solar panels, and stealing them leaves communities unable to make calls to contact the police or ambulance in cases of emergency. We are therefore advising, sternly so, that whoever is going to be caught guilty of this is going to face the full wrath of the
law.”
Ekongo said that the company will continue to invest in security measures to curb sites break-ins and vandalism. He further calls on citizens to do community policing and jealously guide and protect these infrastructures.
