ONE of the things on Energy Minister Stuart Young’s agenda is the issue of illegal quarrying.

At the launch of the TT Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) country report on Friday, Young said while he was national security minister, illegal quarrying was something he wanted to deal with but it fell under the remit of then energy minister Franklin Khan.

“The illegal quarrying is not only destroying our environment, but it is also gangsterism.

“It is a brutal dishonest attack on what we the citizens of TT are entitled to in terms of the illegal extraction of aggregate from our lands as the people of TT.”

He added: “I am not one to make veiled or shallow threats. Going forward as Minister of Energy this is an area that you the people of TT can rest assured I will be focusing a certain amount of priority and effort in tackling that scourge.”

Asked how he planned to address the issue, Young said to tackle criminal activity there is a need for dedication and energy

“What you will have now is someone that will be driven. It will not be an easy task but the knowledge I have from the ministry of national security – intelligence that I have been building in this area, is going to benefit the tacking of illegal quarrying.

“It is real criminality and a real problem.”

Last November, ten people appeared in court charged with operating an illegal quarry.