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Tim mad over wire thefts
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Posted on Nov 29 2006
Acting Governor Timothy P. Villagomez is hopping mad over the continued theft of copper wires in the CNMI.
Villagomez said the theft of copper wires has reached chronic proportions and that it has to be stopped.
“I don’t tolerate this kind of activity. The safety of the public is at risk here!” said Villagomez in an interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday.
The acting governor said that once these copper wire thieves are caught, the government will hold them “accountable to the highest level of the law.”
Villagomez appealed to the community to reach out and look around to stop this crime and put these criminals behind bars.
“It is a network…a network no different from an underground network. There’s the concern, and this is a crime against the Commonwealth,” he said.
“The stealing has resulted in the burning of power poles. Lines from water wells are cut and as a result it affects everybody. People don’t like to want to walk around the pathway now because it’s dark. It’s got to be stopped,” Villagomez said.
The acting governor said he gave specific instructions to Department of Public Safety Commissioner Rebecca Warfield to implement what is necessary to address the copper wire theft problem.
Last Friday, copper wire thieves caused a power pole to blow up and burn in Chalan Kanoa. A separate incident also affected a well pump in Dandan.
Last Nov. 21, copper wire thieves cut off the power lines from the CUC pole to the newly constructed house of Alvin Palacios Iglesias.
On Nov. 17, copper wire thieves struck at a farmhouse belonging to Pacific Medical Center owner Dr. Fahd Al Alou along Airport Road. The suspects stole the drop line from CUC’s pole to the farmhouse’s weather head.
A few days before, unidentified person or persons stole a copper wire measuring about 30 to 50 feet at the Commonwealth Health Center’s Bureau of Environmental Health Office on Navy Hill.
