JAS lauds police crackdown on praedial larcenists

Senator Norman Grant, President of  the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) has lauded the police for the action they took on Saturday against praedial larcenists.

The Praedial Larceny Prevention Unit arrested and charged 12 people at Charles Gordon Market in Montego Bay, St James with possession and dealing in stolen meat.

Senator Grant wants the police to intensify their crackdown on the sale and purchase of  stolen farm produce, stressing that "over a consistent period of time, animals have been stolen from parishes like St. Ann, Trelawny, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland."

He's therefore encouraging the police to continue going after the thieves, asking them to "name them and shame them."

Farmers have been losing J$6 billion annually to "farm terrorism" he said.

Senator Grant is urging the government to expand the animal tagging system, which was introduced last year. He also wants farmers to play their role in stemming the theft of their produce by being registered and procuring the requisite receipt book, "to make the job easier for the police to intensify this fight."

The theft of agricultural produce has been "a primary practice that has stifled the growth and the expansion of the agricultural sector and has been an impediment to Jamaica's food security," he told RJR News.

Unfit for consumption

Beyond the financial loss suffered by farmers, Deputy Superintendent of  Police Kevin Francis, head of the Praedial Larceny Prevention Unit, has also warned of the danger which praedial larcenists pose to public health.

DSP Francis, who led Saturday's operation at the Charles Gordon Market, said most of the meat seized was not fit for consumption.

"The Public Health Inspector would have noted some meats were unfit for human consumption. As a result, the meat was condemned and same has been ordered disposed of," he explained.

That was subsequently done with the help of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, he said.