Scrap Metal Regulator Meets Traders in Bid to End Smuggling, Vandalism

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Scrap Metal Council (SMC) has planned a series of stakeholder consultative forums to deliberate on how the industry can be regulated.

The meetings, according to its chairperson Francis Mugo, also seek to develop solutions to help address the increased cases of vandalism and smuggling of scrap metals outside the country.

Speaking during a meeting of heads of scrap metal associations in Nairobi, Mugo admitted that smuggling has been their greatest challenge and hence the need to find effective solutions to curb it.

 “As the regulator of the industry, we are concerned when millers inform us that they are going without the scrap metal which is their raw material used in steel making,” Mugo said.

Security chiefs also attended.

Last week, the council convened a meeting of scrap metal exporters.

Tanzania is said to be the leading destination of scrap batteries from Kenya while aluminium scrap is smuggled to Uganda.

Police have this year alone intercepted more than 50 trucks ferrying scrap batteries worth millions to Tanzania, but only a few were charged in court.

According to Mugo most of those ferrying scrap to the neighbouring markets have no valid Council as required by law.

Various ministries which include that of energy have also been on the receiving end with several cases of vandalism of transformers being reported in parts of the country.

 Mugo, however, assured the country that the Council will work with all government agencies to arrest the situation before it is too late.

“These consultations are geared towards enlightening members on the need to work within the frameworks of the law,” he stated.

He pointed out that for the Council to effectively deliver to Kenyans; there was an urgent need to have Amendments to the Scrap Metal Act, 2015 to address the existing gaps.

“One of the challenges the Council is facing is the limitation to hire its staff. The council gets secretariat service from the State Department for industry and so we cannot effectively vet scrap metal dealers as there are no inspectors gazetted due to the shortage of staffs deployed to the Council,” he remarked.

 Notwithstanding the challenges, the chairperson said the Council will work within the existing legal framework to deliver on its mandate.

The Council has already lodged its complaint with the Chief Justice over what it termed as an obstruction of its gains by the Judiciary.

It has argued that the Judiciary has failed to deal firmly with the smugglers as provided for in law arguing despite the combined efforts by the multiagency teams to arrest the situation, not much has been achieved.

“We cannot win the war on vandalism of critical government infrastructure if an accused person is charged in a court of law and in the same day he is released in very unclear circumstances with some funny orders,” Mugo said.

 Courtesy: www.the-star.co.ke