President of the People’s National Party (PNP), Dr Peter Phillips has proposed that a praedial larceny division be established within the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Speaking at the Jamaica Agricultural Society breakfast meeting in downtown Kingston last Wednesday, Philips said that it was one of the largest deterrents, alongside absence of infrastructure and financing, that affects agricultural production.“What is essentially needed is that the security forces treat it on the same footing as it does narcotics or scamming, which would require that in the same way you have an anti-narcotics branch of the police force, you need a praedial larceny element that is going to devote the same level of investigative resources, the same focus on apprehension of those involved, in order to get the conviction,” Dr Phillips said.He continued that people have a false understanding of praedial larceny, and said it should not be viewed as a minor criminal offence.“People have a view that it’s a man walking by and chopping two bunch of bananas or maybe picking 10 oranges, but that’s not the problem. The problem that you’re facing is organised crime, of people who plan to reap where they did not sow, and plan to reap massively where they did not sow, people who are devoting resources in transportation, in technology and all of that, to bring the farmer into bankruptcy,” Dr Phillips added.President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society Norman Grant said that the penalty for praedial larceny should be reviewed, and that the fines should be increased for persons who commit such acts.“The Bill that relates to praedial larceny needs to be brought in the top 10 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, so when the thief gets caught and he is brought to the court and the judge lays the judgment, on the stroke of that judgment alone the assets that he has should be seized and disposed of. And that should be used to set up a victim compensation fund because the farmers who have been affected have not gotten anything at all,” Grant said.Grant stated that praedial larceny does not only affect farmers with lands, but also affects those in the fishing industry, and legislation needs to be expanded to include this particular group of persons.According to Grant, the agricultural sector is the lifeblood of the Jamaican economy and particular issues need to be solved in order for sustainable economic growth to take place. The launch of the ‘Eat What We Grow’ campaign, he stated, saved the Jamaican economy around US$600 million over the period since it was launched, and has led to the increase of domestic crop production, moving from 291,000 metric tonnes in 2013 to last year when it was 658,000 metric tonnes.Dr Phillips also mentioned that another critical issue affecting the agricultural sector was licensing. He stated that no country could successfully develop while importing basic food items.“We have to recognise that we also need to re-examine the system of licensing of agricultural imports, not with a view to removing it but with a view to ensure transparency and to ensure that actually what you’re importing is what you actually need. And ensuring that what you need is getting into the hands of the people who need it, because lots of things get imported but without an adequately transparent system that allows anyone to ascertain that there is need at the time, and to ensure that the people that are being licensed are in fact competent to receive those licenses,” Dr Philips said.“Unless we have a new deal for agriculture, unless we solve the problem of rural poverty and agricultural poverty, we cannot solve the problem of poverty in the country at all. The agricultural economy is an absolutely essential vehicle for moving Jamaica forward,” Dr Phillips added.