How thieves made off with a hot-water boiler tank, estimated to weigh between two and three tons, 12 feet high, and about six to seven feet in diameter remains a puzzle for Bogues Brothers Industry Limited. The company is still clueless as to how and why the $3-million asset was stolen.
What is known is that the theft occurred on the night of Sunday, May 31, at a seaside property in Nine Miles, Bull Bay, while members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force were taking industrial action.
“We called the police several times. Of course, the police were on strike and they couldn’t come,” Managing Director Horace Bogues told The Gleaner on Thursday.
He explained that the tank, which was lying on its side, was seen up to 2 o’clock on Sunday afternoon and was reported missing at 7 o’clock the next morning after it was observed that the back gate of the property had been cut off and stolen. Bogues can only theorise as to what might have happened.
“Apparently, they got in a crew of people. God only knows what they did and rolled the tank across on to the seaside from off the property. I also heard that a tug boat was out there (offshore) and, quite possibly, must have towed it because it didn’t show any sign of going up seaside or down seaside,” Bogues told The Gleaner.
NOT EASY TO MOVE
Describing the tank as “heavy, heavy”, he is still puzzled that thieves could have organised so many persons with the requisite specialised equipment to pull off such a feat.
“It’s actually a hot-water boiler tank and it’s heavy. A few weeks ago, we were trying to roll it to put it on a truck – six of us were out there – and we could not do it, and we realised that it was going to need a truck with a crane to lift it and put it on it,” he said.
With little help from the police up to last week Friday, the company placed an advertisement with a picture of the missing tank in The Gleaner under the caption ‘Stolen Water Tank’, appealing for information leading to recovery of the 1,500-gallon stainless steel water tank. On Monday, it repeated the advertisement with a larger picture, spurred in part by what appeared to be the lack of interest by the police.