The Corporate Communications Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on Monday confirmed that a Rastafarian elder was arrested for cultivating ganja on lands adjoining the Bob Marley Beach in Bull Bay, St Andrew sparking outrage.

Head of the unit, Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, told OBSERVER ONLINE that she did not have all the details surrounding the matter, but said the elder had no permit for such an undertaking.

“The amount he was producing, he didn’t have a license for it,” she said.

However, Rastafarian attorney-at-law, Marcus Goffe, questioned the legitimacy of the raid at the elder’s property by a police team from Morant Bay.

He pointed out that in 2015, the Dangerous Drugs Act was amended to allow Jamaicans to grow no more than five ganja plants at a time. At the same time, Rastafarians were given the right to cultivate more than five plants of ganja for sacramental uses, but those expecting to hold those privileges would first need a permit from the Ministry of Justice.

According to Goffe, since the amendments were made, no permits have been issued.

Goffe claimed that Monday’s raid was politically motivated based on recent media reports of claims that developers of a 4,000-room hotel set for lands leading to Bob Marley Beach had planned to evict Rastafarian families from adjoining lands and restrict public access to the free beach.

READ: WATCH: Residents fight to protect access to Bob Marley Beach

“Rastafari have the right to their sacrament. The police were wrong to chop down the ganja and lock up the elder. It is part of the ongoing strategy to get the people off the land. That farm that is there for the family is not a secret. The fact that they chose now to do it after everything come pon di news, it’s a part of their whole intimidation. They didn’t come from Bull Bay Station, which is five minutes around the corner. They drove through all the bad roads to come all the way to Bull Bay to come and do this. This thing is politically connected,” the attorney said.

Goffe added that since 2015, many members of the Rastafarian community have applied for licences. He told OBSERVER ONLINE that in recent meetings with Justice Minister Delroy Chuck and National Security Minister Horace Chang, as well as Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, it was revealed that the permits were delayed because of an issue with regulations.

“Many Rastafarians have applied, including the elder who was arrested, and there was total non-response from the Ministry of Justice. It cannot be right that in 2015, the law was amended to recognise Rastafarians’ constitutional rights to ganja and the authorities who were to regulate it have not done so,” Goffe said.

He added: “The Grassroots Ganja Association met with the minister on July 1. When we asked the minister why it has not been processed, we were told that it is because the regulations are not yet in place and this is seven years after the law has already recognised Rastafarians’ right to cultivate. Ultimately we are saying that this is another situation where the Rastafari community’s rights are being curtailed and that is not right.”