THREE YEARS ago the Prime Minister promised the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) to establish an effective praedial larceny control programme.
One year ago, the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Roger Clarke, tabled in Parliament the Agricultural Produce Amendment Bill to make good on the Prime Minister's promise.
The key feature of that legislation was a receipt book system to verify the ownership and source of agricultural produce in the process of transportation and trading.
As far as we are aware, those receipt books are yet to be printed and distributed. They are not even ready to test some interim reservations to the effect that the literacy levels among Jamaican farmers might make the system inoperable.
The latest chapter in the praedial larceny war surfaced in Parliament on Wednesday. National Security Minister Peter Phillips joined the fray with an announcement that personnel from the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) would be assigned to each JAS parish office. They are supposed to get trail bikes and four-wheel drive vehicles to roam farm terrain to enforce a newly enacted Praedial Larceny Act.
If we are to understand this latest strategic move against praedial larceny, forceful action in the field should catch the thieves red-handed and possibly obviate the need for receipt books; unless, of course, the thinking is that those who elude the ISCF specials would be caught if they fail to produce the receipts for the farm produce in their possession.
This aspect of the field war against praedial larceny is a new dimension which will require careful planning and deployment of personnel who presumably must have some degree of police powers.
We sense that even more time will elapse before this new phase of the prolonged word war against praedial larceny is finally converted into practical action. It has taken years to plan effective action to remove the major detriment to agricultural production. Elsewhere on this page, our Flashback editorial feature sets our concern in an even earlier context.
It is past time that practical action is made to happen to help the farming sector even as it seeks to fight against potential hurricane disaster.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
