For yet another occasion I am constrained to raise in the public domain the essential need for clarity identifying the issue to be addressed.
More than two decades ago the minister of agriculture at that time attempted to initiate the so-called Praedial Larceny/Ranger Squad to address the issue of the larceny of agricultural crops and livestock. I, my capacity as a senior divisional head, carefully pointed out to him that technical staff were trained in the technical aspects of production, marketing and distribution of crop and livestock as well as other related technical aspects.
Additionally, I was unaware of institutions that provided training in the security and policing of agricultural production.
The theft of agricultural produce is merely another form of larceny. Accordingly, if the issue is “larceny” this should properly be addressed by the police and wherever appropriate administrative support provided by the Ministry.
There is indeed a hidden agenda to place this issue in the Ministry of Agriculture but that agenda has nothing to do with agriculture. I respectfully ask that we do keep our focus on the issue to be resolved and not be distracted by others with hidden agendas.
Samuel Howard