Challenges facing scrap iron industry

NATIONAL JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE

RECENTLY the TT Scrap Iron Dealers’ Association (TTSIDA) expressed serious concerns with the latest issues to threaten the industry. According to its president, Allan Ferguson, “A major concern is the proliferation of an ‘international Mafia’ seeking to dominate the local market.” According to one daily newspaper, “Mr Ferguson accused the group of international traders of taking over local scrapyards and swaying supply-chain elements away from supporting TTSIDA member yards.”

NJAC is not surprised at this development, as we raised this very concern three years ago in an article published in our Liberation newspaper of August/September 2022. We highlight excerpts from that article giving NJAC’s perspective on the whole issue:

The six-month ban on scrap metal export is an issue which has been receiving public attention for some time now. We must, however, understand a few things relating to the issue and put them in perspective.

To begin with, there was a law that was passed to govern the trade of scrap metal since 1904, called the Old Metal and Marine Stores Act (1904).

In 2012 (108 years after the initial act), as a result of concerns which had arisen arising out of developments in and the growth of the industry, a process for the formulation of a policy took place, which included reviewing comments received through focus groups and consultations, as well as comments received from the public through the media.

These concerns were outlined in the policy document which was subsequently formulated and which was prepared by the then ministry of trade, industry and investment in 2013.

In its introduction, the document noted that there was a rapid growth in the global scrap metal industry which was also being reflected domestically, with a 39 per cent increase in scrap metal exports over a 12-month period, escalating from $69 million in 2009 to $96 million in 2010.

This policy document, it should be noted, was supported by the TTSIDA president. The policy was intended to provide stringent rules and regulations with accompanying penalties for non-compliance. The policy document made a number of proposals and recommendations ranging from the inspection process to penalties, to licensing, in relation to issues facing the industry.

What all this has shown is that a comprehensive document was prepared since 2013, which went through consultative stages and is now just lying there. To come after all this to say that you are shutting down the industry for six months and allocating $600,000 for the preparation of another policy, while having people suffering, is scandalous and on the surface does not make sense.

Moreover, when we look at who is being affected, it is poor black people who are struggling for survival, as they try to eke out a living by salvaging the waste at the major landfills situated at Beetham, Forres Park and Gunapo. Here we are speaking of individuals and their families, amounting to thousands of people, whose survival depends on this industry.

Associated with this are the scrap metal dealers with whom they relate, as they exchange their goods for hard cash. When, therefore, the industry is shut down for six months, the survival of all those people is affected and there seems to be little or no concern for their welfare.

What we do know is that the industry has continued to grow, moving from approximately $69 million in 2009 to an estimated $216 million in 2018, registering an increase of over 213 per cent over a ten-year period. Globally, the metal recycling market size was US$217 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US$368.7 billion by 2030.

At a domestic level, the industry seems to be now attracting individuals and organisations that previously may have turned up their noses at it, but are now awakened to lucrative prospects? In such a scenario, decisions can be made to squeeze out the small man in the interest of larger players.

What is the relevance of, or justification for, the six-month ban, when all that is required is some tweaking and adjustments to the legislation that already exists? Instead, over half a million dollars has been allocated, to repeat all over again what was already done.

Could it be that, given the explosive growth of the industry, those in authority, along with those who control the levers of power, believe that this may be too much for any “little black boy” to be in charge of? Therefore, the six-month ban may be necessary to buy time, to put in place legislation that would not benefit the small man.

This amounts to nothing more than reinventing the wheel, a wheel that could take the small man, particularly the African, in another direction – over the cliff. What, therefore, could have seemed to be an illogical decision and a waste of taxpayers’ money, could instead be a well thought-out plan to redirect control of a multi-million-dollar industry from the hands of those who are perceived as being uneducated and illiterate hustlers to the rich and wealthy.

Something sinister and devious is afoot.