JAS wants Proceeds of Crime Act to cover praedial larceny
December 14, 2006
THE Jamaica Agriculture Society (JAS) has proposed that assets earned through praedial larceny be included in the Proceeds of Crime Act now before Parliament.
"Assets earned from praedial larceny should be treated in the same way that assets from drugs and other organised crimes are treated," Senator Norman Grant, the president of the JAS, told the Observer yesterday.
The Act, which addresses several limitations in the Drug Offences (Forfeiture of Proceeds) Act, is being considered to deal specifically with organised crime and gives the state authority to deprive persons of all properties and accumulated wealth which cannot be explained by legitimate activity. It seeks to ensure that persons engaged in criminal activities do not profit from them.
Grant said he had already written to the national security minister, Peter Phillips, recommending that the agriculture sector be protected under the proposed Act.
He added that losses to the agriculture sector, through well-orchestrated larceny, runs into millions of dollars per year. He said livestock farmers, for instance, have lost in excess of $150 million to thieves since the start of the year.
The JAS president said that in recent weeks a farmer lost 40 head of cattle from his 100-head herd, while another farmer recently lost 32 head of cattle in one night.
In the meantime, the JAS president said that the newly implemented receipt book system, designed to leave a paper trail of the movement of agriculture produce, was having success in all parishes, except St Elizabeth....
Author: Patrick Foster
Source: Jamaica Observer
