KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green says the Government has taken a “360 approach” to fight praedial larceny which continues to impact farmers across the island.

This approach includes adjustments to the law including increased fines; the creation of an Agricultural Wardens Programme to get more “boots on the ground”; and the development of an Agricultural Protection Branch within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

“Praedial larceny is still a problem but we really have a structured approach to try and treat with it and I call it a ‘360 approach,” Green said.

He was speaking at a post-sectoral presentation forum at Hope Gardens on Wednesday, May 28.

“We’ve looked at every element. We’ve looked at the laws — and I heard it time and time again, the laws are too lenient. A man get catch, when him go court, him get let off, and when we came in a lot of the Agriculture Produce Act, the maximum fine was $250,000, and we said ‘that don’t make sense, $250,000 can’t even buy a goat again’. That is the reality,” the minister explained.

Green noted that the maximum fine for breaches under the law has since moved from $250,000 or three months in prison to $3 million or three years.

“And the Praedial Larceny Act is coming. It’s going before the house now. I think it should be tabled today when I leave here to go to Parliament and that will also change some fines…We’re moving some fines, in some cases, from $40,000 to $500,000 to $1 million. So, we are putting in the legislation to ensure that if you are caught, then you will feel the penalties,” he said.

To assist in the policing, Green said his ministry is introducing an Agricultural Wardens Programme.

“We have to put more boots on the ground so, that’s why we’re doing our Agricultural Wardens Programme.”

Describing agricultural wardens as “agricultural police”, Green said 243 candidates have already been identified and are waiting to be trained in the role, which he anticipates will begin this year.

“From that, we will start with 100 and deploy them in areas where we have a high incidence of praedial larceny,” he said.

On that note, he is encouraging farmers to continue reporting incidents of praedial larceny as the data assists in identifying areas in need of greater security force.

“Report it, because when we look at the data, if we see that you only have one incident and another place have 30, we’re going to put the wardens in the place that have 30. But you might have 50 but you say it don’t make nuh sense. You have to report it,” Green explained.

Finally, as part of its strategy to reduce praedial larceny, the JCF has now established an Agricultural Protection Branch, the minister said.

“The police are coming on board in a big way. They now have an Agricultural Protection Branch. So, just like how you have a branch that deals with sexual offences, everybody know about CISOCA (Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse)… Now, you’re going to know about Agricultural Protection (Branch). So, when you have an agriculture-related crime, you will look for that area,” he said, adding that the police will also be introducing a drones unit to help with surveillance.

The 360 approach is already reaping success, Green said. He noted that between 2023 and 2024, praedial larceny arrests increased by 80 per cent, and vehicle seizures for persons involved in the crime have also increased.

“One of the things we’ve been saying, if you stop a man in a vehicle and he’s involved in praedial larceny, take weh the vehicle. In 2023, we seized eight vehicles. Last year, we seized 28 vehicles. So, we moving in the right direction,” the minister said.

He further encouraged farmers to form watch groups to build a strong community network to assist the Government and the police in the fight against praedial larceny.

“It works. Talk to the farmers in Trelawny. They had a massive praedial larceny problem. We went in there and I want to big up Superintendent [Oral] Pascoe, who went down there with the team. They formed a farmers’ watch group and they haven’t had —knock on wood— any reports since,” Green said.

— Kelsey Thomas