(Trinidad Guardian) Mega farms in central Trinidad are under siege by thieves. In the last four weeks, criminals have carted away thousands of dollars worth of crops, chemicals and equipment from large farms. Fayaz Shah, who manages the 100-acre Edinburgh Farm, which is privately operated, blamed the absence of the Agriculture Ranger Squad (ARS) for the spate of thefts in farming communities. The Edinburgh Farm is the largest hot pepper producer in Trinidad.
The ARS, comprising 19 officers, was a pilot project initiated under former minister of agriculture Arnold Piggott. It was scrapped under the People’s Partnership Government in 2010. In March, then food production minister Vasant Bharath described the squad as “ineffective” and promised to replace it with security firms. Bharath had said the squad was faced with several impediments, since they had no powers to arrest and were not precepted.
Last Monday, a security guard stationed at the Edinburgh Farm was beaten with a gun butt and hog-tied by six men who invaded the lands. The thieves cut the lock on a 20-foot freight container where chemicals, fertilisers and farming equipment were stored. Approximately 20 bags of urea, four motorised knapsack sprayers and two mist blowers were stolen from the container which is located close to a guard booth. The thieves also removed two water pumps worth TT$20,000.
Still shaken by the incident, Shah said, the traumatised guard is reluctant to return to work. The Edinburgh Farm has approximately 50 acres of hot peppers under cultivation and 15 acres in corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbages. Shah said TT$10,000 a month is paid in security fees. Hiring an armed security officer would cost twice as much, he said, and installation of a CCTV camera is estimated to cost TT$30,000.
The farm is being operated by Joe Pires, managing director of Caribbean Chemicals Ltd. Crops from the farm are supplied to the T&T Agri-Business Association (TTABA). Shah said a 25-acre farm which they manage at Wallerfield was also raided by thieves a few months ago. Armed with blow torches, the thieves cut and yanked several metres of iron cylinders connected to the farm’s irrigation system from the ground.
In nearby Felicity, farmer Dinesh Boondoo and his father, Ramdeo Boondoo, complained that their farm was recently raided by thieves, who uprooted 21 beds of sweet potato valued at more than TT$20,000. Known for their advanced technology in cultivating root crops, the Boondoos said they did not report the matter to the police. “If I had called the police they still would not have come. You just have to cut your losses and move on. We have no one to turn to for compensation,” said Dinesh. He warned farmers to be alert when hiring labourers on their farms.
“They accept jobs to plant your land and would return with a posse to steal during harvesting. This is what we suspect happened at our farm. We are wary of who we take on now. It was a heavy price to pay.” A few miles away at Arena Road, Freeport, cassava farmer Dipnarine Ramsaroop and his son Kamnarine suffered a similar fate. Thieves uprooted 16,000 pounds of cassava from their 100-acre farm over a four week period.
Ramsaroop said he is considering calling it a day, since while he worked day and night to bring his crops to perfection, others are enjoying the benefits of his labour. “Every day we would stand guard at the farm but the minute you turn your back the thieves coming to take what is ours. You always on the losing end. I don’t think I will stay in this work too long because the older I get is more problems I enduring. The criminals have more rights than you.” Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj said reactivation of the ARS is being considered.
“I am advised by the permanent secretary that there are 25 officers. We will be reactivating that unit within two weeks. They were sitting down doing nothing. They are really trained for this,” Maharaj said. The squad will be based in Carlsen Field where praedial larceny is rampant, he said, but will move into other farming communities.
Maharaj said he wrote National Security Minister Jack Warner to effect the powers of the Praedial Larceny Prevention Act of 2000 to treat with the immediate issues. He said he intends to increase the squad to 200 officers in the coming months.
