Farmers in Barbados are being advised to erect No Trespassing signs at the points of entry to their properties to give police more authority to arrest people who loiter on their farms.
That advice has come from deputy chief agricultural officer with responsibility for crops in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resources Management, Dr Dennis Blackman, who said provision is made in the Trespassers to Property Reform Act for such warning signs to be erected.
“Once farmers have these signs erected it gives the police more authority to arrest people who are trespassing or loitering on the farm. These signs should be planted on each farm in a location which is near to the normal point of entry,” he said.
“The signs can say Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted or No Trespassing. If people do breach these signs and do trespass on the farm the police will have good grounds for arrest and prosecution.”
He acknowledged that one of the biggest problems faced by farmers on the island was praedial larceny and cited cases where farms have even gone out of business due to crop or animal theft.
Blackman said the ministry was in the process of setting up a praedial larceny desk and would be working closely with the Royal Barbados Police Force to rectify the problem.
(BGIS)