GUYANA Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) subscribers at Sandvoort Village, West Canje are without the service of their landline phones after vandals removed a 1,034 ft. length cable during dark on Tuesday.

The wire was removed from an unpopulated area just outside the village.
Consequently seventy-five householders, in particular those pursuing academic studies, have been affected by the breach since they are unable to conduct online research.
Villagers have to now travel to New Amsterdam in order to access internet services, incurring an additional expense.
“We have to pay for the use of the internet services, but because of the vandalism, we have to go to the internet cafés in New Amsterdam. This is costly for us as we still have to pay for services by the company,” says Yolanda Sinclair.
Another resident, Mr. Reginald Collins, recounted to Guyana Chronicle that he was speaking on his telephone shortly before 21:00hrs when suddenly he was disconnected. Assuming that it was his phone line that had developed a fault, he said he then retired to bed but on moving around the village the following day he heard complaints about the disconnected telephone service. Further inquiry revealed that a lengthy piece of cable had been stolen.
As a result of the vandalism, residents say they feel isolated from other communities as they are unable to make contact with relatives, friends and other contacts on a daily basis. In addition the Sandvoort Primary School and a Health Centre have been affected.
Meanwhile, President of the New Amsterdam arm of the Disabled People’s Network, Ms. Dawn Benjamin revealed that following the removal of the utility line, she telephoned the branch office of GT&T and an official indicated that the service would have been restored within three working days. However, “nothing has happened,” she lamented.
The visually impaired woman explained the several reasons she needs her landline telephone, and more importantly it is used to network with other national members of the society.
“It costly for me to use my mobile phone for lengthy communication purposes. Our society has many plans being implemented currently, but there are setbacks because of inoperable phones.”
In the meantime, police are continuing their investigations into this latest case of vandalism but no arrest has been made and the service is still to be restored.