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Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management,??Michael King. (A.Miller/BGIS)

A senior civil servant is questioning how many cases of praedial larceny have come before the law courts with the perpetrators being charged.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management, Michael King, made this query Monday night during the second town hall meeting on agriculture at the Valley Resource Centre, The Valley, St. George.

He suggested that it was not necessarily about changing the legislation but rather, an issue of enforcement and adequate policing.

"I would like to see the figures on how many cases have come before our law courts with people being charged for praedial larceny in Barbados…It’s not so much that the Ministry of Agriculture needs to change any legislation. The legislation exists; we just have to enforce it," he maintained.

Mr. King said, however, the Ministry recognises that there are some aspects of the legislation that may need to be tweaked to bring it in line with present day demands.

The Permanent Secretary was at the time responding to concerns from farmers that crop and livestock theft was having a serious impact on their ability to maintain a proper livelihood.

andre.skeete@barbados.gov.bb

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