September 15, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 14, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 14: Thefts of telephone pair cables in the oil installation area in Keamari is on the rise and during the last 45 days 300 heavy duty cables worth around Rs1 million to Rs2 million have been stolen from the area.

An official of the Terminals Association of Pakistan (TAP) told Dawn that a surge in the incidents of cable thefts and robberies in the area was creating difficulties in carrying out operational activities of exports and handling of bulk hazardous liquid cargo.

Despite being one of the gateways of trade and business activities in the city, this area remains vulnerable as its four exit points are open and unguarded and allow for free movement and is under the grip of lawlessness.

Besides tampering with pipelines during handling of vessels, criminals were now stealing telephone cables in the area, which had badly affected the entire telecommunications system, the TAP official added.

He said that during the last one month, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) installed 300 heavy duty pair cables but to no avail as some unscrupulous elements stole these cables every time.

According to the official, the Jackson Area police had been duly informed but they have expressed their helplessness to initiate some major action against such criminals due to a shortage of manpower and mobile vans.