‘Fed up’ employees allege ‘organised crime’ within Power and Water
Police are investigating the alleged theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars of property from the NT Power and Water authority.
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POLICE are investigating the alleged theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars of government property from the NT’s Power and Water authority following an anonymous tip off.
The claims are contained in a letter from “fed up” employees sent to Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison alleging “organised crime” within the government owned corporation.
“We are talking about entire cable drums loaded up with hundreds of meters of brand-new copper cables as well as other technical equipment getting stolen each month and costing the NT taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,” the letter reads.
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“Recently, $30,000 of brand-new copper cable was literally driven out the front gate of the Ben Hammond Complex in Stuart Park and no one saw it happen.
“Let’s cut the crap — this is the result of Power and Water employees working with their favourite contractors to steal from PWC.”
The letter says the stolen equipment is later sold back to Power and Water by contractors.
The letter writer also alleges a contractor stole a “large quantity of commercial shelving” and a “full size office compactus” from the corporation’s Mitchell St office.
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They say that incident was captured on CCTV but was not investigated due to a personal relationship between the contractor and a figure at Power and Water.
“Many Power and Water staff are aware of the compactus theft and expect to see the in-house stealing of government assets by contractors and government managers stopped,” the letter reads.
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Power and Water chairman John Langoulant said the board took the claims seriously and would be “investigating all unlawful allegations thoroughly”.
“I also commit to provide our full co-operation to any inquiries undertaken by investigative bodies,” he said.
“I will not comment any further while this investigation is under way except to say that Power and Water recognises the role we play in the community. The board and I commit to dealing with these matters swiftly and fairly.”
A spokeswoman for Ms Manison said she had referred the matter to police and “also requested a full briefing from PWC on the matter”.
An NT Police spokeswoman said investigators were “conducting inquiries” but had not received a formal complaint.
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