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The government will not hesitate to impose a permanent ban on the scrap metal trade in Murang’a should the high cases of vandalism of critical government infrastructure, home break-ins and theft of business items persist.

Francis Mugo, chairman of Scrap Metal Council warned that scrap metal dealers should either put their house in order and combat incessant vandalism or the government will issue a moratorium that will see their operations in the county stopped.

Speaking after a forum with the dealers, Mugo affirmed that stern action will be taken against anyone found vandalising transformers, guardrails, road signs among other scrap items which cost taxpayers billions of money to put up.

He specifically expressed concerns over vandalism of guardrails and road signs along the Kenol-Marua dual carriage, saying that going forward, the trade must be regulated to protect public infrastructure and bring to a stop home break-ins where thieves vandalize windows, doors among other items which they sell at throw-away prices.

“We would want to engage the people of Murang’a and the scrap metal dealers so that we can agree how they will operate in the right way, within the confines of the law. Scrap metal dealers must comply with the law, they must stop vandalism,” he said.

However, according to associations of scrap metal dealers, the government should deal with vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure as a social problem instead of labeling every dealer as a burglar.