Former ACP named praedial larceny czar

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

RETIRED ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police (ACP) Reginald Grant is the new praedial larceny prevention coordinator. His appointment, which took effect on Tuesday, December 6, comes more than seven months after retired Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) officer Lieutenant Colonel Paul Dunn quit the post in April.

"I am on-board," Grant told AgroGleaner on Tuesday, when he issued this warning to persons who continue to steal farm produce and livestock : "If they don't stop this illicit activity, we are going to ferret them out, we are going to dog them, hound them and ram them."

Under the microscope

Without going into details of his operational action plan the former police investigator explained that hot spots such as slaughterhouses and the activities of persons who deal in agricultural produce would come under the microscope. In addition to the ongoing review of relevant legislation and regulations, the office of the praedial larceny prevention coordinator will also spearhead the continued sensitisation of farmers and other stakeholders as it relates to the amended Agricultural Produce Act.

The act was amended in November 2005 to include provisions such as the compulsory receipt book system for use by farmers in carry-out sales transactions. The definition of agricultural produce was also widened to include livestock, fish and other such items which were not included in the original act, with fines for breaches also increased.

Launched last year as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of National Security, it seeks to stem the scourge of praedial larceny which continues to hurt more than 200,000 farm families across the island. Annual loss has been conservatively estimated at $5 billion, with lots of farmers choosing not to report incidents of theft to the police.

In a bid to get more of them to collaborate with the police, the agriculture ministry this year signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Crime Stop which sees rewards being offered for information about acts of praedial larceny and persons involved in such activities, which leads to an arrest. However, following the resignation of Dunn shortly afterwards and the long delay in appointing a replacement, the programme has fallen into limbo.

Campaign

"What has happened since then, I have absolutely no idea," Crime Stop Manager Prudence Gentles said in an earlier interview. "We've only ever received one phone call and that was about stolen goats. We got there too late. These guys move them quickly and, by the time we got there, they had gone," she explained.

In collaboration with the Jamaica Agricultural Society and Rural Agricultural Development Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries developed a range of posters, bumper stickers and billboards, which were to be used in conjunction with television, radio and print advertisements. 'Join The Fight To STOP Praedial Larceny', the brightly coloured posters shouted, urging people to call Crime Stop at 311 and get a cash reward if they saw anyone stealing agricultural produce, livestock, fish pots or lumber.