LEGISLATORS continued to talk tough on praedial larcenists as they debated on Friday at length on the Agricultural Produce (Amendment) Act, 2023, which seeks to curb the scourge of farm theft with the imposition of stiffer penalties.

The Bill, which proposes increased charges for praedial larceny from $250,000 or three months in prison to $3 million or three years in prison, was passed in the House of Representatives in November. The senators in the Upper House followed suit on Friday with their stamp of approval.

During the extensive debate, which saw seven legislators making contributions, it was highlighted that praedial larceny had gone on for far too long and a stop must be put to it immediately.

Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, who returned to the Senate with his usual force after a long bout of illness, contended that “it’s long time we fighting the ‘two-foot puss’, long time we fighting praedial larceny”.

He lamented that the last amendments to the legislation were made in 2004, almost 20 years ago, noting that it has taken a long time for the improved measures to come.

Brown said that while he supports what the legislation is seeking to achieve, he is concerned about the effectiveness of the Bill in deterring praedial larcenists.

“We support the Bill but we want to caution that the critical success factor is enforcement. We are lacking in vehicles, we are lacking in manpower, we are lacking in intelligence, and if we fix those we would do service to the farmers for which they will be grateful and continue to produce,” he said.

“Until we build a [security] force that is sufficient to scare and frighten the criminals, to change the odds where the criminals feel they can succeed against the poor farmers, until we do that we will come back and talk 20 years from now about the praedial larcenists and the fact that we have not won the battle against them,” he added.

But in piloting the Bill, Leader of Government Business in the Senate Kamina Johnson Smith said this is the very thing the amendments to the legislation seek to address — strengthening the Government’s measures to put an end to praedial larceny which is estimated to be costing Jamaican farmers up to $5 billion in losses per annum.

“The aim is to ensure that our farmers are the primary beneficiaries of their hard work. It is a serious problem that has been plaguing the agricultural sector for decades, and we are moving to stiffen the penalties to deter would-be praedial larcenists, and punish those caught more harshly,” she said.