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  • 1 year ago
Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon tells the T&T Scrap Iron Dealers Association to get its members in order.


This comes amid complaints by the association that foreigners are doing unregulated business in the country. But as Alicia Boucher tells us, the Minister says it's the non-compliance of scrap iron collectors which poses a hindrance to regulating the sector.
Transcript
00:00The TNT Scrap Iron Dealers Association has accused foreigners of taking over local scrap
00:05yards, bypassing scrap iron dealers and buying directly from collectors.
00:10TTC President Alan Ferguson admitted nearly a week ago that the association was responsible
00:17for inviting those foreign businessmen into the country.
00:21The complaints haven't gone unnoticed by Trade Minister Paula Gopiskun.
00:25She says it's about the third time those remarks have been made.
00:29While Ferguson questioned the legality of what is transpiring, Gopiskun suggests otherwise,
00:35based on the structure local dealers have implemented.
00:39So those exporters are also dealers in the sense, in the right sense, okay, so they are
00:46registered dealers as well as all local people are dealers.
00:50So they're not illegally here ostensibly, they are dealers.
00:57What I think they're concerned about is that they perhaps have gone into the realm now
01:01of collecting as well, which is what the local dealers were primarily doing, collecting from
01:08consumers all across Trinidad and Tobago.
01:11Gopiskun says to remedy the problem, a formal and legal system has to be put in place for
01:17both collectors and dealers.
01:19And according to her, that is what the ministry has been attempting to do.
01:23We have put past the policy, we have passed the legislation, and we have not been getting
01:30the dealers to get their collectors registered.
01:34So it's free season.
01:37So I don't know how the scrap iron dealers expect the ministry to attend to the collectors
01:45who operate under the foreign dealers and not attend to the collectors who operate under
01:51the local dealers.
01:53It has to be equitable.
01:55The minister states that for this reason, it is difficult to place any focus on the
01:59complaints filed by Ferguson, as she calls on the association to get its members in order.
02:05They have to comply with the law first and foremost.
02:08And when they start doing that, then we'll be able to deal with everyone across the board.
02:13Do we know, on average, I know you wouldn't know offhand, but the percentage as to how
02:18many of them are unregistered in terms of the collectors?
02:22Because all of the collectors are unregistered.
02:26So we have a problem, and we've got to fix it.
02:29And I've given, this is about the third extension that we've given, and we're going to be very
02:33firm now.
02:34Gopi Skoon tells us the problem is not bureaucracy in getting registered.
02:39She notes that her ministry invited collectors to the Centre of Excellence for Training and
02:44to teach them how to use the registration forms, which she says are also online.
02:49So there's no bar to doing what is required.
02:52But perhaps there are those that still wish to operate illegally, and we will not stand
02:57for that.
02:58Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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