Pan Caribbean Sugar Company to help establish pound for stray animals
Published:Friday | January 10, 2025 | 12:08 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The issue of stray animals wandering the streets of Westmoreland could soon be resolved as Agriculture Minister Floyd Green announced that the Chinese-owned Pan Caribbean Sugar Company, which operates the Frome Sugar Factory, has committed to providing land for a municipal pound in the parish.
Green explained that once the pound is operational, the owners of animals currently roaming the roadways, causing accidents, injuries, and property damage, will be held accountable for their animals.
“I think that once we start and have a regular system where animals are impounded once they are not where they are supposed to be, then people will start taking heed,” the minister said.
Following a meeting with Pan Caribbean Sugar Company management on Wednesday, ahead of his tour of the factory, Green shared that preliminary discussions regarding the pound had already taken place.
“We have decided that we will pull together a smaller team, have those meetings, and, hopefully, over the next few months, we will establish a task force to move forward,” said Green. “We have already worked with [Pan Caribbean Sugar Company] to establish an area that will be used as a pound, and the municipal corporation has already given that go-ahead that they will use the area as a pound.”
Green expressed confidence that the establishment of the pound would significantly reduce the number of collisions caused by stray animals, thus easing the burden on motorists who often face costly repairs due to accidents involving these animals.
“We do appreciate that it will require the [assistance of the] security forces, so I have committed to reach out to the commissioner of police and also the head of the Jamaica Defence Force to see if we can work with all stakeholders to undertake the operation needed to take the animals off the road,” said Green.
Pan Caribbean Sugar Company itself has been affected by the issue of stray animals, particularly cows, which graze on their cane fields and cause considerable crop damage.
Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Danree Delancy noted that the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, which he chairs, is seeking a contractor to operate the pound.