A HIGH level breakfast meeting hosted by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) on Wednesday, to fine-tune plans for the launching of the Praedial Larceny Control Programme next month, attracted the attendance of the top brass of the legal, national security and agricultural fraternities.
Present at the Terra Nova Hotel in St. Andrew were Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke, National Security Minister K.D. Knight, who passed through to lend support, police Senior Superintendent Reggie Grant, the operational head of the pending programme, and top officers from the JAS and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).
Minister Clarke told the meeting that due to financial limitations on the programme at the moment, it has been decided to get it off the ground on a phased basis, while the full funding is sourced.
He suggested that voluntary support be sought to bolster the ranks of the cadre of paid agricultural wardens to be enlisted during the initial phases of the programme, which is to be launched at the annual general meeting of the JAS on July 26, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
"The praedial thieves are virtually certain of getting away now, but there must come a time when they realise that there is a real risk in their activities," the Minister declared.
In response to concerns from second vice-president of the JAS and chairman of the Society's Praedial Larceny Committee, Dr. Trevor Dewdney, about the possibility of successful court challenges to the mandatory use of national produce receipts, the Chief Justice said an amendment to the Produce Act by Parliament would eradicate that problem.
He said without any opposition to the passage of the amended legislation, it could be effected in little time.
Justice Wolfe told the meeting that with the introduction of the new and uniform receipts, the police could now play a more meaningful role in deterring praedial larceny.
"The appointment of wardens does not preclude the police from acting on the provisions of the law," said Justice Wolfe. His statement was in support of a recommendation from JAS president, A.A. 'Bobby' Pottinger, for the police to routinely check for the receipts for farm produce being carried through checkpoints, once the programme gets under way.
Under the Praedial Larceny Control Programme, the JAS, with funding of $8 million from the Ministry of Agriculture, will print and sell the national receipt books to farmers for compulsory use in their sales transactions. The JAS will also run the Praedial Larceny Control Secretariat and Database.
Persons transporting farm produce will, upon request from agricultural wardens acting in tandem with the police, be required to produce the official receipts, which should match the volumes of produce they bear. The receipts will have a number of special security features to protect their integrity.
Another major concern raised at the meeting was that the Produce Act did not relate to livestock, including fish. That, Justice Wolfe indicated, would also have to be addressed through amended legislation. The Chief Justice also said once the necessary legal changes were effected, it would also be appropriate to effect the seizure of vehicles allegedly found transporting stolen farm produce, until the court has decided on the matter.
Wednesday's meeting followed a similar exercise hosted by the JAS the day before, at its head office in Kingston, where a number of large-scale farmers were updated on the praedial larceny programme and their views on the matter canvassed.
At that forum, participants expressed support for the programme, noting that more than $2 billion was lost to praedial thieves across the local agricultural sector each year.
