CALLS FOR OLIVE THEFT PATROL PLAN

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The secretary general of agricultural and farming union COAG, Juan Luis Avila, met with Government officials from Jaén on Wednesday, with a view to ask them to enforce a special crime prevention plan against the theft of olive crops, as farmers fear that the economic crisis could have a damaging effect on their crops, suffering mass theft, as the picking season approaches.

Avila was said to have told the sub-delegate committee that they have to activate a protocol of coordination between security forces, with the collaboration of farmers, in order to prevent theft of olives, as it is “the responsibility of the central government” to enforce such protective measures.

Farmers and pickers claim that they are already facing frequent inspections from the Guardia Civil to check that they are legally registered to work and that they pay social security, so the union claim that it would be a simple extension of the role of the law enforcers to patrol and prevent thefts and loss of their livelihood at the same time.

The olive farms in the area are known to be mostly family-run entities, and are not known to act beyond their requirements of the law, so it is only right and fair that they receive the same protection afforded to the state.