MONTEGO BAY, St James — Altrecia Maitland, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor candidate for the Sheffield Division in Westmoreland, is urging stakeholders to act quickly before another life is lost due to cows.

According to Maitland, “there are multiple solutions available to curb this problem” across the parish. Her comments come on the heels of two fatal accidents on Bay Road. A 21-year-old police constable, Tajay Ebanks, succumbed to injuries sustained after his service motor vehicle collided with a cow two weeks ago. Less than 72 hours later 22-year-old Christopher Samuels was killed after the car in which he was travelling was involved in a smash-up with another cow.

Another young man was injured a few days later after his motorcycle also collided with a cow.

This, Maitland said, is a cause for grave concern and should encourage stakeholders to act quickly. She told the Jamaica Observer that unofficial word on the ground is that the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WPC) is dragging its feet regarding plans to re-establish an animal pound with the support of the Pan Caribbean organisation.

“In April there was an article where the mayor mentioned that the pound will be here soon. After the accidents I enquired and was told that the pound was made available. I heard that housing is there for a ranger, and the facility has been prepared by Pan Caribbean,” Maitland explained.

“The information I got, I don’t know if it is true but I was told that the issue is that some discussions are going on as it relates…to the overall management and other logistics. The facility is there, it is just for them to organise and probably decide how they are going to execute. They are saying that it would not be the responsibility of the municipality,” Maitland told the Sunday Observer.

She bemoaned that the animals are wreaking havoc on the people of Westmoreland in multiple ways, as in addition to the motor vehicle accidents, farmers are reportedly also losing their produce.

“People are dying and the farmers are suffering. It is unbearable and very stressful for these people. Imagine you plant your ground and all of your produce has been trampled by these animals — and sometimes you can’t even find the owner,” said Maitland.

Some of the animals are strays but the ones that are on the main road…I don’t see them as wild animals because most of them are branded,” the councillor candidate added.

At the same time, Maitland said she has noticed a change in the Westmoreland farming sector. She stated that a lot of young people have decided to try farming, and thus need additional support to maintain their livestock.

She proposed that the support will assist in reducing the number of stray animals across the parish.

“From my observation on the ground a lot of young people are going into farming…even where I live, most of the animals I see are owned by young people trying to do their farming because they really prefer to do their own business than go out and work for others,” said Maitland.

“A lot of those lands that are owned by Pan Caribbean or SCJ Holding Limited can just be [made available] to these young people. We can develop a close collaboration with SCJ, the Ministry of Agriculture and, by extension, RADA and have these guys guide them in terms of setting up their pens and holding areas. Most of the animals would be off the streets then,” she told the Sunday Observer.

The councillor candidate also suggested that the lands be leased to interested farmers as a way of encouraging the keeping of animals in a confined and suitable environment.

“Majority of the cattle that are out there, the owners just don’t have pens to put them in and, as a result, they have to tie them — but they burst the rope and wander. If the farmers are able to get these properties to lease [then] they can set up pens for their animals, and that would be a solution,” Maitland reasoned before pointing out that land previously used for sugar cane production could assist in this plan.

“Sugar cane is scaling down so a lot of farmers are turning to livestock. They purchase the animals but they do not have the land space, and there is a lot of land available,” she said.

Calls made by the Sunday Observer to get comments from mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Bertel Moore went unanswered.

However, in a recent interview Mayor Moore shared that plans were afoot to establish a pound in the parish.

“We have been working on getting a pound in the Frome area where we were before. We are just going through some legal ramifications at the present to straighten it out but we are working in conjunction with Pan Caribbean to work on a pound for the parish,” said Mayor Moore then.