By Tahna Weston
Head of the Communications Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture is decrying and highlighting the impacts and dangers of vandalism in the agricultural industry in Antigua and Barbuda.
Carol-Faye Bynoe-George said praedial larceny has been on the increase with persons now deciding to vandalize farmers’ properties.
Bynoe-George said vandalism is a serious threat to farmers livelihoods and to the stability of food security, impacting economic growth and environmental health.
She was speaking with reference to a recent incident of vandalism on Andy David’s farm in which several coconut trees, pipelines, and a water bladder with the capacity to hold 5,000 gallons of water were destroyed by unknown individuals.
According to Bynoe-George, the Ministry of Agriculture will not stand by as persons continue to wreak havoc on the agriculture sector, adding that those caught engaged in such acts would be dealt with according to the law.
“We have been seeing a lot of praedial larceny and now on the rise [is] vandalism, and these behaviours are not going to be tolerated or accepted. Persons who are caught, they will be dealt with by the law. A few months ago, we even had somebody who went on a farm in the southwestern side of the island and they decided to just take all of the pumpkin the person had to reap the same day — so they did it before her — and it was over 500 pounds of pumpkin.
“Now, this is not only praedial larceny, this case is vandalism because the irrigation system, the pipe, the water bladder that was donated by FAO, with a capacity of holding 5,000 gallons of water, were destroyed. The coconut trees that were planted to use as shade or cover up for the crop, because if you notice, he had other vegetation planted in the row between each one of the coconut trees. The coconut trees, they were also chopped, not uprooted, they were chopped, so there’s no replanting there,” Bynoe-George said.
Bynoe-George said such acts of larceny and vandalism can impose heavy financial burdens on farmers, who are tasked with repairing or replacing damaged infrastructure and implements.
She said for farmers who operate on a smaller scale, these costs can lead to long-term instability, as well as lost productivity and increased operational costs.
“As you stated, it’s not only his time, his effort, but we’re talking about money that not only costs him, but also the agriculture agencies like FAO who donated these things to farmers to help them with water conservation and stuff like that. And this is very, very serious because we have a serious water situation on our island and water is very important for any kind of propagation or cultivation. And I mean, for somebody to go and do this, is just downright right wicked.
“Because he’s not only trying to make a livelihood for himself, but he’s actually contributing towards, and when I say he, the farmer, is contributing towards food security. And for somebody to go and do this, is not a crime only against the farmer, but it’s against the nation,” the Head of the Communications Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture said.
Bynoe-George noted that such acts of vandalism and praedial larceny underscore the broader dangers of agricultural sabotage as she reiterated that Agriculture is everybody’s business.
She said a unified stance against such unacceptable acts is needed for a sustained agriculture sector.
“It negatively impacts on what we’re trying to achieve. Some of these coconuts, we actually the ministry through the forestry division invested and brought in thousands of coconut trees which we are distributing among farmers.
“Because you can appreciate that a few years ago, we had the yellowing situation that destroyed almost all our palm trees, not only coconut trees, date trees and so on. So, we are now trying to reforest the country with coconut trees and this is what happens. How can that be acceptable?” Bynoe-George asked.
She said she was flabbergasted after seeing the video of the destruction on the weekend because she just couldn’t understand this senseless act.
Bynoe-George said the police were called in, and therefore investigations are ongoing. She noted that the Ministry of Agriculture will seek to be supportive to the farmer in terms of seeing what can be done to help him get back some of the trees to replant.
