As the government considers lifting the ban on the scrap-metal trade, telecoms company LIME is reporting that the latest incident of theft of some of its transmission cables in Hellshire Heights, Portmore, has resulted in service-restoration costs of $3.5 million.

In a release this week, the company says this brings the cost of such repairs for the company, in that parish alone, to more than $9 million in less than two months. "The theft of this type of cable has been linked with the illicit trade in copper scrap in the past," the company said in the release.

The incident, which affected Hellshire Heights, Johnson Hill and its environs in the parish, resulted in loss of approximately 500 metres of 600-pair cables and a further 230 metres of 200-pair cables impacting voice and BlackBerry service of about 300 customers last week.

"The theft of our cables continues to affect us in many ways. As we look at our strategies to manage this risk, we are calling on the government to implement the appropriate regulations to enable a well-run industry and better protection for businesses such as LIME, which continue to face huge financial losses, interruption to services and inconvenience to customers," explained LIME's Managing Director Garry Sinclair, in the release.

"Since July, LIME has experienced similar incidents of theft in other areas in the parish such as Dunbeholden, Bernard Lodge, Sligoville, Leiba Gardens and St Jago Hills," the release continued.