BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson says the St Elizabeth police are prioritising their focus on praedial larceny in the breadbasket parish, even as he welcomed amendments for stiffer penalties.

“I note that praedial larceny is a challenge in St Elizabeth, which is the breadbasket. The praedial larceny across the country varies — it is not the same things and it is not the same way it is done. I know that the team here has been putting some focus on that; it is a focus that we need to do in a wider way across the country but also looking at certain technologies to apply to that,” he said at a townhall meeting in Black River on Wednesday.

“What I am very heartened about is that the people who we go through the whole process of putting in front of the court now can get the sort of sentencing required of it,” added Anderson.

Just last month, amendments to the Agricultural Produce Act were passed in the House of Representatives to seek to put in place more stringent penalties to address the issue of praedial larceny.

Under the amended Bill, the maximum fine for people convicted of transporting stolen agricultural produce has moved from $250,000 to $1 million, and the maximum prison term of three months is now three years.

Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green said the amendments were well-needed.

“These are changes that the police have been lobbying [about] for decades…We have to send a clear signal to the criminals that praedial larceny will not be tolerated,” he said.

Green, who is also Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, said praedial larceny is a threat in his constituency.

“The reality is that we have farmers in every single community that you go to in St Elizabeth. The majority of the population you would find are either farmers or fishers — that is what we do,” he said.

“We have been on a drive from the Ministry of Agriculture to channel more of our people, especially our youth, into farming. And not just regular farming; we have been trying to push more of them into livestock farming. We have been trying to say to more of them that, ‘You can make great returns from our small ruminant sector.’ The real challenge that they often have is praedial larceny,” added Green.

He commended the police for intercepting farm thieves.

“Thankfully, since the start of the year we have seen significant breakthroughs. We have seen the police apprehend, charge, and put people before the court for stealing livestock, goats, and that is the sought of work that we want to see continue,” he said.

“My hope is that next year we will be able to work together as the Ministry of Agriculture and the JCF to roll out the first phase of our agricultural wardens programme where we can put some more boots on the ground in our farming areas so our farmers have greater protection,” added Green.