GENERAL Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Lincoln Lewis is baffled by the mysterious weekend break-in at TUC headquarters on Woolford Avenue, Georgetown, where two offices were ransacked.
However, no valuables including a small amount of money, which was left on a desk, were stolen, he reported.
The offices targeted were Lewis' and that of the Principal of the Critchlow Labour College, both located at the northern side of the compound.
A staff member of the TUC who arrived for work around 07:50 hrs yesterday first discovered that something was wrong.
Lewis said the break-in may have occurred between late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, and based on the way the offices were disarranged, he did not believe the motive was theft.
Next door to the college principal's office is the Treasury Department, but this office remained intact. Other offices where money is usually kept were also untouched, Lewis said.
What the intruder(s) did basically was (were) break open cupboards and filing drawers in both offices and take out documents, which were left on the floor. However, it did not appear as though any of the documents were missing, Lewis said.
His office, at the western end of the building, has computers and accessories, a fax machine, a tape recorder, a fan and other items any thief would want to take away, he said.
There were also several bottles of beverages in a cupboard that was forced open but none was removed.
The Principal's office, five doors from Lewis', also contained files. The offices between those were untouched.
Lewis said that after examining the ransacked offices when he arrived at work yesterday morning, he called in the police and the matter was being investigated.
Indications are that the intruder(s) gained access to the building through one of the main doors leading to the general office area. This door had a defective lock, Lewis said, so therefore it was easy for anyone to open.
However, the two office doors were ripped open and the locks on them were damaged.
Asked how important the documents stored in his office were to the TUC, Lewis said there are files with information "important to the development of the nation that people would need".
But the TUC was not ruffled by this incident, he added.
Although security guards are usually posted at the compound there have been robberies there before, specifically at the college administration building, he said.
This, however, was the first time the TUC office was broken into, he added.