JG - Trail of the missing sand: Orderly theft

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Trail of the missing sand: Orderly theft

published: Sunday November 30, 2008

According to a source, who claims he participated in the theft of 500 truckloads of sand in late June from Coral Springs in Trelawny, the entire operation started on a Thursday evening and ended the Sunday night. No sand was drawn on Friday.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The source, who has requested anonymity, tells The Sunday Gleaner that he first stepped on to the property owned by Felicitas Limited at around 8:30 p.m. one Thursday in late June - nearly three hours after mining operations began.

He had gone there to provide support for motor vehicles involved in the operation."

"(D)espite the beach being located nearly one mile from the main road, a new road had been cut leading to the shoreline."

&

"(O)ne policeman on a motorbike was keeping watch at the top of the road leading to the beach.

The cop's job, at first glance, the source says, was to signal oncoming traffic to stop when a truck laden with sand was about to enter the roadway.

Operations on the beach were equally orderly. The only difference was that there were more persons of repute overseeing the activities. The source says that one local government representative and a former politician came on the scene for a short while. He says the politician was seen taking large sums of money from his sport-utility vehicle."