DENBIGH, Clarendon – Pointing out that thieves who prey on farmers are often people they know, Prime Minister Andrew Holness is bemoaning the prevalence of praedial larceny in Jamaica. His Administration, he said, is committed to stamping out the practice and is moving to put the requisite legislation in place.

“If there is one thing that we must conquer in Jamaica, is this business of praedial larceny. At its core, it’s reprehensible that someone should reap where they did not sow or that someone should benefit from your labour when they did not toil,” Holness told patrons on Monday during the final day of the 69th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Food Show.

“Oftentimes it is people that are close to you that can enter your yards without your dogs barking so it is not just a criminal undertaking, but a large part of praedial larceny also has a socio-cultural element involved. It is now becoming almost an unspoken part of our culture, accepted; and I think that is another area that we need to address. We must respect the efforts of our farmers,” he added.

During his keynote address, Holness said Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green has been tasked with coming up with a viable solution to tackle praedial larceny, and legislation was already in place for a special police task force to be put in place to stem the issue.

“The minister is responsible for getting this operational and right now there is technology that is quite robust and proven and almost anyone can buy an ear tag. So it is feasible to tag our animals, geo-fence them and properly track them with the technology now available. We are currently working with the technology providers to work out a solution that can be easily deployed by our farmers. We must conquer this business of praedial larceny,” the prime minister charged.

As part of efforts to combat the scourge of praedial larceny, which is costing farmers up to $5 billion annually, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, conducted 3,849 special operations/raids in 2022/23.

Additionally, 30 farm watch groups were established, 142 arrests were made relating to breaches of the relevant legislation, and 52 praedial larceny-related offences were reported officially for the period.

This was disclosed by then Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Pearnel Charles Jr as he made his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives this May. Since being returned to the helm of the ministry, Green has also been vocal in the need to stamp out praedial larceny.

At the launch of this year’s Denbigh Agricultural Industrial and Food Show at Hi-Pro headquarters in St Catherine, Green revealed that he has met with police representatives to consider how to fast-track discussions on appointing agricultural wardens and specialised police officers to target criminal activities affecting farmers and their agricultural production.