BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Sandy Point Agricultural Cooperative Society Ltd. (SPACS) is appealing to members of the community for assistance in helping to retrieve a number of stolen items, valued at about EC$6 500, which were recently stolen from the Sandy Point Marketplace.
The items reportedly stolen are a chainsaw at an estimated cost of $2 500, a video camera valued at $1 800, a transformer which cost about $1 500 and two pair of Clarks shoes worth about $350 each.
SPACS President Lionel Stevens, who is a farmer, informed this media house that he made the discovery after visiting the market place at around 6:00 on Tuesday (22. Jan).
“Tuesday morning, upon going to retrieve a tool which was a chainsaw, after looking several places, the place where it was supposed to be, where I left it the night before, it was not there. I searched the entire building to discover that it was not there.”
Stevens said he called and asked a colleague if he had removed the chainsaw and he responded in the negative.
“So after he said no, I went and push the back door of the building and I realised it was open, and that told me that it was somebody who broke into the building and took the chainsaw,” Stevens explained.
Shortly after the discovery of the stolen items, the matter was reported at the Sandy Point Police Station.
“We just want to let everybody know in the community that we are very dissatisfied with it. We are only trying to bring the community together and actually help the community through agriculture. So, trying to break us down by taking our resources would only reduce our productivity. Hence, this could bring hardship to the community, because if we don’t have the necessary tools to perform our duties, which is the production aspect, the community, the health of the people (will be affected).
“So we just want the people to know that we don’t support stealing, especially poor people who are trying to help themselves. So we want the community to assist us with any information so as to help us get back our possessions, because they are very much needed,” Stevens added.
Stevens further condemned the act of stealing, pointing out that if such occurrences should continue it could lead to the organisation not using the marketplace anymore.
“Because it was abandoned for 15 years and we come and try to save it, and to see that we’re making such an effort to restore and save such an important monument, and to see that people from the community would try to stop that and stop that drive.”
When asked if anything like this has ever happened at the marketplace before he said “not to this extent.” As understood when the market was reopened, there was a break in and a couple of sodas were taken. The organisation members figured that it was “just a kid at that time.”
He highlighted that the compound is open to the public.
“The community uses it as a shortcut to the main road and from the main road to the lower road. So it’s basically open for anybody to walk through at any given time of the day. This could be how it happened; it could be somebody who normally passes through there.”
Stevens suspects that the culprit or culprits are from the Sandy Point community and he does not believe that people from other parts of the island would know that the chainsaw was stored there.
“We can’t look at someone from outside the community. We have to look at our own. We just want to condemn it and let them know, ‘Don’t try to bite the hand that feed you.’”
Initially, Stevens was supposed to take the chainsaw to one of his fellow member’s farm on Sunday, but it was decided that he would do so on the following day. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so on those days and went with the intension of fulfilling the promise on that morning of the incident.
He pointed out that the chainsaw was not normally stored at the public market, as it is usually taken to the farms. He however speculated that perhaps it was someone who passed through there on the weekend and saw it being used and stored there.
The chainsaw, which is just a little over one year old, was used to cut up wood at the marketplace for usage of a fire place to cook Rastafarian meals. It was also used to prune trees on the five farms owned by farmers of the organisation.
He said that SPACS bought the video camera so that it could have participated in the 2010 Caribbean Film and Video Competition organised by the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute and the Caribbean Council for Science and Technology.
The group did not place in that competition, but was the only competitor from the Eastern Caribbean.
The transformer which was contributed by one of SPACS’ members was used to power the freezer used for storing farm produce as well as bottled drinks.
The stolen shoes belonged to two farmers of the group who had changed into their work boots.
Looking ahead at some measures to improve security, Stevens said the group is seeking to replace a gate at the front entrance which has been absent for a number of years. Consequently, the shortcut will be omitted to some extent.
Additionally, SPACS intends to have a proper restroom facility on the compound which would need to be secured too, so as to disallow misuse by the public.
Asked about the security aspect of the building from which the items were stolen, Stevens revealed that there is a padlock on front door that is closer to the main road and visible to the neighbours; whereas, the rear entrance has a wall and a shed which prevents the building from being easily seen by residents of the community.
He said the back door is hooked from the inside and is tightly nailed-shut. Notably, a hammer was discovered at the back door which the culprit(s) used to open the door.
SPACS Ltd. was officially formed on January 10, 2010 and the public market was opened on July 3, 2010 after being dormant for some 15 years. There are currently 10 to 15 active and inactive members of the organisation.
Stevens said after the organisation was founded, one member decided to gave up his Saturday to sell produce there.
Prior to reviving the market, some of the farmers of the group sold their produce along the roadside outside the Marketplace on the Island’s main Road in the vicinity of the popular G- Spot Club.
But after experiencing the inconvenience of weather elements, the farmers collectively decided to make use of the marketplace.
Steven said the SPACS Ltd. had a discussion with former Senior Minister of Agriculture Dr. Timothy Harris, the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Hermia Morton-Anthony and the current Acting Director of Agriculture, Thomas Jackson, and was “given a verbal okay to go ahead” and revive the market.
As he explained, the “entire month of June, SPACS, along with the SPIRT group from Sandy Point and the Fire and Rescue Services, the marketplace was cleaned up.
Stevens said the marketplace is open every Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and that during the week some farmers would use it to sell various products.
Sold at the market are Ital pastries, bottled drinks and farm produce such as tomatoes, pumpkins, melons, broccolis and cabbages.
The marketplace is mainly used as a food storage unit and distribution outlet.
