Robert Hart, Parliamentary Reporter
HOLNESS
ANDREW HOLNESS, Opposition member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew, yesterday called on the Government to take action in addressing the rising incidence of cellular phone theft, which has resulted in the recent deaths of two teenage girls.
Mr. Holness tabled a resolution in the House of Represent-atives in which he argued that mobile phones have become increasingly more sophisticated in function and status.
Some models, he pointed out, cost as much as $50,000 and can easily be transferred from person to person and network to network.
"Whereas this unregulated transfer makes theft of cellular phones a lucrative crime, be it resolved that the Government moves to implement laws to make it illegal for anyone to tamper or adjust the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) identification number on mobile GSM phones," Mr. Holness said in outlining the resolution.
He added that it should be made compulsory for service providers to establish a database of all mobile phones in the island and that the database be connected with other GSM mobile service providers internationally, through the GSM association.
It should also be ensured, Mr. Holness said, that all GSM units are registered with the service provider before they can be activated on the network.
"(And) ensure that in the event of theft, ownership can be established so that the mobile instrument can be remotely shut down by the service provider upon request by the owner," he added.
Mr. Holness' call comes in the wake of the murder of the two schoolgirls who were fatally stabbed after refusing to hand over their phones to robbers. The girls, Mesha-Gaye Tomlin, 18, and Yanice Hall, 17, are part of a growing list of victims of cellular phone theft in the island.
Mr. Holiness' resolution was greeted with desk thumping from both sides of the House and he was specifically congratulated by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
The resolution will be debated at a future sitting of the House.
