Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

Christine Dallas, goat farmer in Richmond, St Mary, has lost tens of thousands of dollars to thieves. - Photo by Nedburn Thaffe

As the Government continues to seek solutions to curb farm theft, some agriculturists in St Mary say they are on the brink of throwing in the towel.

"Nuh matter what the Government do, farmers still a go suffer from the hands of thieves," said Christine Dallas, a cattle farmer in Richmond, south west St Mary.

Dallas told The Gleaner that thieves struck in broad daylight in August, carting off 36 goats, among them a number of pregnant Nubians and five mature rams each costing $15,000.

Struggling farmer

The 28-year-old, who has been involved in cattle rearing for the last 11 years, related her challenges.

"It nuh easy when you raise yuh things dem fi so long and somebody just come and tek dem weh," the young farmer said.

Dallas, who has a daughter, said she was struggling to pick up the pieces with the few remaining (goat) kids she had. But the problem is not restricted to Richmond, as the tentacles of farm theft have stretched to Hampstead in central St Mary, Fontabelle further north, and Gayle in the north west.

Alva Champagne, of Hampstead, said he has lost more than 200lb of yam in the last two years. The young farmer said his property's isolated location has not spared it from plunder.

Anthony Cummings, a banana cultivator in Fontabelle, told The Gleaner that he rarely sees the full benefits of farming.

"Mi get so use to it now, it come like nutten. It's like mi a farm fi mi and thief," he lamented. Cummings said he has stopped reporting theft to the police because that was futile.

Not quitting

However, despite the challenges, Cummings said he would not quit.

"After doing something from you youth, it nuh easy fi just give up because of thieves," he told The Gleaner.

Special corporal attached to the Port Maria outpost of the Island Special Constabulary Force, Sansalvador Willis, said at least 20 cases of praedial larceny were reported each month.

"What we find is that most of the farmers don't come to the station. We try to encourage them to come in but most times say they just can't bother," Willis said.

He added that although they have managed to reap some success by employing day patrols, the biggest challenge was nocturnal surveillance.

Resource shortages

Manpower and resource shortages were at the heart of the limited coverage, the corporal said.

"We have a lot of roads to cover and it is impossible to cover all these areas with the few riders available," Willis explained.

He believes more success could be reaped if cops at Gayle and Castleton, towns on the western and eastern borders of St Mary, respectively, conduct more checks of vehicles exiting the parish.

Acting commander in charge of operations at the Port Maria station, Lorna Carter, said lack of cooperation from witnesses had hamstrung investi-gations, leaving prosecutions few and far between.

"The difficulty we face during the investigation of these matters is that when persons are apprehended, most times witnesses refuse to give statements, causing the matter to come to an abrupt end."