Khan: Heritage theft could have caused major disaster

A RECENT incident in which pipes belonging to the Heritage Petroleum Company were cut to steal fenceposts could have caused a disaster, said Energy Minister Franklin Khan.

He was responding to an urgent question in the Senate on Monday from Opposition Senator Wade Mark about preventative measures at Heritage in light of reports of sabotage.

Khan said Mark was referring to an incident on June 19 on Wilson Road, Barrackpore which involved "more theft than sabotage." He explained that people were cutting three-inch pipes with a welding torch to steal fence posts.

“I wouldn’t say this is common practice, but...these things do occur in the southwestern peninsula for miles of pipeline, especially the small-size pipeline. And it has been a perennial problem over the years.”

He said Heritage reported the matter immediately to the Barrackpore Police Station and the company plans to increase mobile patrols with assistance from the police. He added the community is being asked to help monitor the assets of Heritage.

Another measure is a CCTV camera system where possible and a hotline so these incidents can be reported to Petrotrin directly no matter where they occur.

“Hopefully this will alleviate, and probably bring to a zero position, incidents like these in the future.”

Mark asked if there was a timeline for setting up the hotline and for Heritage to interact with the community.

Khan did not directly reply but said over the decades of the energy industry the community was really the watchman for the assets. He said the theft was a dangerous exercise, but luckily the lines were dormant and there was no fuel passing.

“What is the position if that was a gas line? It would have been a major disaster. For two fenceposts? It (is not) worth the risk, ladies and gentlemen.

In June last year it was reported that Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd had lost some $20 million to "thieves and saboteurs" over a six-month period.