OPPOSITION SPOKESMAN on agriculture, J.C. Hutchinson, has expressed doubts about the efficacy of anti-praedial larceny legislation under the watch of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).
Mr. Hutchinson told the House of Representatives on Tuesday, that he was concerned about plans to have the JAS monitor the provisions of the Praedial Larceny Act. He said that the Society did not have the machinery to effectively monitor adherence to the provisions of the Act.
"In my constituency there are two JAS branches and the only time they meet, is just before the Denbigh Agricultural Show, when they come together to decide what produce to take there. So if it going to be handled by the JAS branches, it is not going to work," Mr. Hutchinson said. He was speaking in the 2001/2002 Sectoral Debate.
The Cabinet recently approved an amendment to the Agricultural Produce Act, to increase the role of the JAS in reducing praedial larceny.
Minister of Information, Senator Maxine Henry-Wilson told a recent post Cabinet briefing that under the proposed amendment, the Society would administer and monitor the issuing of receipt books to farmers for a fee, through the Produce Receipt Book System.
She said that the system will require compulsory identification of ownership and sources of agricultural produce, including crops and livestock, being traded or transported within the island. Agricultural wardens and the police will be required to verify ownership of goods and therein support the detection and arrest of persons engaged in praedial larceny. The Act currently requires the "Chief Officer of the Constabulary" for the parish to issue the certificates to licensed dealers, free of charge.
Turning to the budgetary allocation to the JAS, Mr. Hutchinson noted that of the provision of $25 million in this year's budget, $10 million will go towards the payment of pensions.
He said that he was concerned about the current role of the JAS in the development of the agricultural sector.
"In the Minister's 1999/2000 presentation, he said that the priority objectives to be implemented in 1999 was the continued reorganising and restructuring of the JAS. Two years later the JAS is still not restructured or reorganised," Mr. Hutchinson noted.
On the subject of Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke's announcement that the Society will soon be taken off the budget, Mr. Hutchinson said that in its current form and direction, it would not be able to survive if taken off the budget.
He suggested, instead, that the JAS be reorganised to be used solely as a marketing agent for farmers.
