Farmers Urged to Get Registered

Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, is calling on all farmers to get registered, noting that this is one of the most effective ways to ensure the success of the Agricultural Produce Receipt Book Programme.

“I want to appeal to every Jamaican farmer to get registered and get your receipt books,” he implored.

The Commissioner was speaking on Tuesday (February 28) at the re-launch of the programme at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Hope Gardens offices in St. Andrew.

He said that many farmers often resist the process of registration as they believe it is a taxation measure. He noted, however, that this is one of the most effective methods to fight praedial larceny.

Commissioner Ellington said he is willing to open up the police stations across Jamaica as registration centres to ensure the full registration of all farmers. “(The Ministry of Agriculture) can leave the forms there and the farmers can come and be registered and we can turn them (the forms) over to the relevant agency,” he noted.

The Agricultural Produce Receipt Book Programme was re-launched in an effort to curb the nagging problem of praedial larceny. It seeks to ensure that all farmers registered with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and vendors, are able to issue a receipt, identifiable by a unique number, to anyone who purchases agricultural produce, as proof of payment. 

The receipt book project is part of the Praedial Larceny Prevention Programme’s four-tiered plan to address the longstanding problem. The other components are: employment of a praedial larceny prevention coordinator; strengthening collaboration among farmers, police, parish councils, the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and communities; and publicising the initiatives.

The Ministry of Agriculture has collaborated with various agencies and organisations in the public and private sectors to effectively implement the programme, including the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), farmers’ groups and communities.

Commissioner Ellington further encouraged farmers to write their telephone numbers on the receipts that are issued to consumers.

“My officers are now calling the farmers to ask them if they sold produce to individuals they see on the road, so if I stop you with a car load of agricultural produce and you tell me that you bought it from (a particular farmer) and you produce a receipt, I will be able to contact the farmer. This has been very effective in curtailing praedial larceny,” he said.

By Athaliah Reynolds-Baker, JIS Reporter