MANDEVILLE, Manchester — As part of the drive to combat farm theft, the police Area Three, which embraces St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon, has been holding consultations with those involved in various sectors of the “food supply chain”.

Superintendent Barrington Daley, Crime Officer for Area Three, recently held what he described as “an extremely useful” meeting with butchers in Mandeville.

Daley said the meeting was considered necessary because of the alarming rate at which “animals are being stolen and disposed of” by criminals.

The objective, said Daley, was to get butchers and other players in agriculture and related sectors to become more aware of the threat posed by criminals; and to understand that they themselves “should abide by the rules” in order to help improve accountability in the meat sector.

Among the rules: Animals should reach designated slaughter houses on specific days during daylight hours with checks being done by police personnel and public health officers.

“No slaughtering shall take place between sunset and sunrise (at nights) and there should be no slaughtering on a Sunday without special permission from a public health inspector,” said Daley.

He said those licensed butchers who were also farmers were being urged to get themselves registered with the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA) of the Ministry of Agriculture as part of the effort to tighten up the system. They were also encouraged to use RADA’s receipt book system.

Butchers raised their own concerns such as the absence of security for animals at slaughterhouses — a problem which Daley said had being brought to the attention of parish councils.

Daley said a multi-faceted drive against praedial larceny would continue with all related sectors being brought into the picture including the “people in the public transportation sector”.

Drivers, he said, needed to appreciate that they would be required to account “for how luggage came to be placed in your vehicle”.

Daley said the police were well aware of the need to fight praedial larceny in order to protect the nation’s food security and to encourage those with an interest in farming.

“There are many people leaving school who can’t find employment but are reluctant to go into farming because of thieves,” said Daley.