Local, foreign agri agencies collaborate to tackle praedial larceny

The issue of praedial larceny and its negative impact on local farmers was the focus of a workshop held at the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) headquarters in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
The GLDA; the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Caribbean Community (Caricom); law enforcement from Jamaica and local farmers have joined forces in an effort to tackle the theft of farm produce.
GLDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nigel Cumberbatch said the Authority viewed the act of praedial larceny as a serious offence and was committed to supporting any initiative that sought to protect farmers from losing their livestock.
He stated, “We are committed to ensuring that if we cannot eliminate larceny of agricultural products, we can at least reduce it to the point where it does not affect the farming community.”
Caricom representative Nigel Durant observed that agriculture was a business and should be treated as such. To that effect, praedial larceny severely impacts the profitability of businesses and the incentive to continue in the field. With the exception of Jamaica, most other member states have not successfully addressed the issue.
“This initiative that you are involved in right now is an outcome of the deliberations and discussions that are being held at the regional level…this is the beginning, the transfer of best practices, I think, is essential element,” Durant explained.
Cecil Persaud, representing the Agriculture Ministry, emphasised the importance of legislation to address the issue, and suggested the implementation of stringent penalties and fines on persons who commit the act. He referred to the example of Jamaica, where persons found guilty are liable to fines up to J$3 million Jamaican, which is equivalent to over G$6 million.
“We must have a system where we can have justice very quickly. We must have both the investigative aspects and the adjudicative aspects made up in such a manner that things can be expedited and farmers are encouraged to report incidents of praedial larceny.”
It was recently announced that the Government would table a bill in the next Parliament to address this issue. The Department of Public Information noted that while legislation exist, there was a greater need for enforcement to stem the theft of agricultural produce.
The last known amendment, “praedial larceny (Enhancement of Punishment Act 1983)” sought to increase fines from $500 or imprisonment for six months to, “not less than 500 nor more than $1500 together with imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than 18 months”.