"Unscrupulous" individuals sabotaging the country's telecommunication giant, by cutting off its communication cables, have been handed a stern warning by the Department of State for Communication and Information Technology (DoSCIT). "Desist from the such illegal acts or face the consequences".

According to a four-paragraph press release from the state department, such a sabotage is driven by commercial motives and those found wanting will face the full wrath of the law.

However, the department acknowledged that not all of these disruption in the delivery of telecommunication services are intentional as some inadvertently occur during civil works, such as excavation.

The state department then called on the public to exercise a sense of patriotism and remain vigilant in order to weed out the saboteurs. Below is the full text of the press release.

"The Department of State for Communications and Information Technology (DoSCIT) has noted with concern the cutting of Gamtel transmission cables along the country, which results to interruptions in the provision of telecommunications services to the general public.

Although, some of these cuttings are found to be unintentional due to lack of knowledge about the existence of the underground cables during excavation and other civil works, but some cuttings are carried out by unscrupulous individuals for commercial gains or purely sabotage.

This unethical and criminal act which should cease, warning that any individual caught in the act will be severely death with according to the law.

Meanwhile, we call on all Gambians to exercise patriotism and be a watchdog to safeguard our national telecommunications backbone to facilitate communication.

In this regard, the public is hereby urged to report any suspected activities or malpractices done to these cables to the nearest police station, regional governor's offices or any Gamtel/Gamcel offices".