We will definitely catch you, Flow tells serial vandal

Tim Ringsdore

Telecommunication company FLOW BVI said it will beef up its security measures to catch a serial vandal who has been targeting and destroying its cable network since last year.

The company’s Managing Director, Tim Ringsdore, while labelling the action as disappointing, said over 200 FLOW customers have been affected as a result.

“Unfortunately it affects our customers, and we have anything of up to 200 customers on some of these cables. So, when they are cut, 200 customers get cut off the service.”

“It is very disappointing because we’ve been investing a lot of new money into the island to roll out super-fast broadband across large area of the island,” Ringsdore said.

Chalwell, Carrot Bay

Ringsdore explained that it was before December last year the company started to notice that its network was being targeted.

The vandalism has been occurring mostly in the Carrot Bay and Chalwell areas of Tortola.

The offence, Ringsdore said, ceased over the Christmas period but continued afterwards.

He added that the culprit appears to be someone who ‘knows what they are doing’.

“It is definitely somebody with a very sharp instrument; something like a machete. These cables aren’t easy to cut; it takes a lot of power. Somebody seem to know what they doing because they seem to be targeting our equipment, and there are other cables on the poles and they don’t seem to be affected,” Ringsdore further explained.

He added that, while some FLOW cables have protective material, others that don’t have such material are more vulnerable.

Ringsdore indicated that, while the company plans to invest in more protective material, other security measures such as the installation of CCTV cameras will be put in place.

“Yes, we will be enhancing the protection of our cables over a period of time. It’s gonna take time, and we are also going to put some surveillance cameras around the island as well to hopefully catch this mindless individual,” added the FLOW BVI boss.

While apologizing to the customers who have been affected, the managing director gave an assurance that it is just a matter of time before the person (s) responsible is caught.

“We will definitely catch the person eventually. It’s a small island; it will only take a bit of time with some of the measures we are going to put in place and hopefully making customers a bit more vigilant about this.”

“We would love to catch the person responsible. I would love to have a chat with him and find out why they doing it, because there is no money value in this – it’s just mindless vandalism.”

Meanwhile, Ringsdore urged customers to also assist by reporting suspicious activities.

“If you see anybody suspicious with a machete hanging around telegraph pools which sounds a bit crazy chase him off, but don’t get involve, just report it to the police,” he said.

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