?The government can?t decide to close our business just because there are some black sheep who are taking advantage of the rise in scrap metal and other metal,? declares Marc Técher, managing director of Steel Scrap Ltd, a company set up more than 60 years ago. Since the theft of scrap iron has reached its heights, there is an urgent need to find a solution to stop the unofficial business and each and everyone is trying to find personal solutions. The attorney general, Rama Valayden, even announced that regulations would soon be adopted for more control of the business. The ministry of Commerce confirms that the ?regulations are being studied at the moment?. But the three main operators of the sector are adamant about what they do not want: there is no question of preventing export, as requested by Samlo group.

Three legal operators are involved in the export of scrap iron in Mauritius: Runghen G. and Co. Ltd, Steel Scrap and Scrap Supplies Ltd. All insist that they are dead sure that all scrap iron they obtain from brokers is not stolen. ?We take their names, identity cards and produce a purchase slip that makes it very easy for us to find them if ever there was any problem. But we have been in the business for more than 60 years and have been working with the same traditional brokers for a long time. We know where our products come from,? confides Marc Técher.

He adds that there are only about 10% of illegal operators but this ?conveys a very negative image of the business?. The owner of Steel Scrap explains that the problems of theft started about four years ago when the price of metal had skyrocketed on the world market. Keseven Runghen, from G. Runghen Co. Ltd, however, points out that Mauritius is not the only country suffering from such problems. ?In Reunion, South Africa and even France, people are also stealing whatever they find.?

Here in Mauritius the business of scrap metal does not date from yesterday and operators point at the fact that they have contributed a lot to cleaning the environment of eyesores for many years. ?Not only have we been collecting the waste no one wanted but we have also provided a lot of jobs to people. Each of our companies employs about 20 people without mentioning the hundreds of indirect jobs created for lorry drivers, brokers and so on,? declare Marc Técher and Keseven Runghen.

So, the rise in thefts of both private and public objects should not lead the government to review the export authorisations these companies have, warn the operators. ?We are also victims of those thefts. They have an impact on our turnover even if this remains temporary for the moment but these thieves even break into our yards and steal our scrap iron,? reveals Keseven Runghen.

Here in Mauritius the business does not date from yesterday and operators point at the fact that they have contributed a lot to cleaning the environment of eyesores for many years.

While the solution to all those problems for Ranjiv Gowressoo, chairman and managing director of Samlo, is simply ?to ban exports?, the three companies do not share his opinion at all. The request has already been sent to the government but ?we were told that our proposal was still being studied and we are still waiting?. The main reason, according to him, why exports should be prohibited is the fact that it is ?mainly done by foreigners at the moment?.

Even though Marc Técher agrees that many of the illegal operators could be foreigners, he and his colleagues are dead against the interdiction. They have even set up the Association of Collectors and Exporters of Scrap Metal to try and fight this idea when Samlo made the proposal to the government. ?The government can?t force us to sell our scrap iron to one of our biggest competitors. Samlo exports some of its scrap from time to time and it would undermine our freedom to force us to export to one operator only,? explains Marc Técher. The more so as the operators presently have their own clients ? mainly in India ? who are able to guarantee a better price than Samlo would.

For Samlo, however, this would be the best way of preventing the growing number of thefts. The company has already budgeted Rs 200 million for more investment that would make sure the country does not face any shortage in iron bars in the future. The government will have to settle the question.