Old Harbour, St Catherine – Jervis Stewart, a 56 year-old field worker from Sandy Bay in Clarendon will appear in the Old Harbour Resident Magistrate’s Court today to answer a larceny charge in connection with the theft of 57 metres of Highway 2000 perimeter fencing.

According to Detective Corporal Desrine Watson, cops saw 37 metres of the stolen fencing, partially installed, in Stewart’s yard on Tuesday while he slept under a tree. Another 20 metres of the fencing was seen lying nearby.

Lawmen and personnel from the Jamaica Infrastructure Company, the operators of the toll road, had journeyed to the community after JIC employees spotted what they believed to be sections of the Highway fence while in the area on Monday.

When questioned about the fence, Stewart, said the police, told them that he had bought it from three young men who were peddling it in the area. In addition to the 57 metres that were allegedly found in his yard, cops said they managed to confiscate another 20 metres that had apparently been abandoned on another premises.

Up to last November, more than 500 metres of the fence had been stolen in the one month that the Highway had been opened and operators then moved to have sections cemented into place to prevent further loss.

About 200 metres were removed on November 19, the night before 24 year-old Patrick Howell was killed after his car collided with a black cow. The fence was erected to prevent stray animals and pedestrians from walking along the heavily travelled highway.