Authorities are exploring the use of pasture lands in the south, including near Hewanorra International Airport to relocate stray cattle, as collisions between livestock and vehicles continue to endanger motorists and expose gaps in animal management.
Kemuel Jn Baptiste, Acting Director of Agricultural Services, confirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture has approached Invest Saint Lucia to secure parcels of land near the airport’s flight path – areas deemed unsuitable for development but viable for grazing.
“We’re currently looking for options to relocate the animals to an area in the country that is less susceptible to interaction with traffic,” he told St Lucia Times.
The move comes amid renewed public concern following a recent road accident involving cattle, captured in a widely circulated video showing a mangled vehicle and an injured cow. The incident has reignited calls for a long-term solution to Saint Lucia’s persistent stray livestock problem.
Jn Baptiste acknowledged the severity of the situation. “We have a severe cattle problem around the island, and the Ministry of Agriculture is in part responsible for the welfare and well-being of our farmers and also providing help with the welfare of the animals,” he said.
He noted that while the south of the island benefits from designated grazing zones and controlled crossings, areas like Choc in the north have become hotspots for roaming cattle. Many farmers lack sufficient land and resort to squatting on crown property, increasing the risk of roadway encounters.
“The land is not vested in the Ministry of Agriculture, so it’s not a case where we can just pick up and transport them over there,” Jn Baptiste explained. “We have to negotiate with the agencies with which the land has been vested. As soon as that conversation becomes a positive one, then we could put timelines as to when it happens.”
In the interim, according to the Director, the Ministry utilizes a tagging system to trace animals involved in accidents back to their owners.
Jn Baptiste said farmers are generally supportive of relocation efforts, recognising the financial and emotional toll of losing livestock to collisions.
“Very often the damage caused to these high-end vehicles far outweighs the value of the animal,” he said. “After four or five years of raising one, to find out that you have no value because it damaged somebody else’s property is a significant loss.”
The Ministry’s priority, he added, is to move cattle off highways and into controlled, fenced spaces. “The whole idea here is to get them off the street, to get them in locations that are designated for that purpose.”
The stray livestock problem is not new. Successive governments have wrestled with how best to address it. The previous administration leaned heavily on enforcement, invoking provisions under the Animals Act that allow authorities to seize and impound animals found obstructing or endangering public roadways, pending reclamation by the owner or sale.
The current administration has taken a different tack. Earlier this year, Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere said his Ministry was working with farmers to secure safer grazing areas in the south. But despite those efforts, progress remains slow.
Negotiating with farmers???? What nonsense is this??? They want to raise livestock as a business or to sustain themselves, they need to go buy land or have their own land to harbour their cows. The government should not be interjecting themselves into this. The police need to do their damn jobs!!!
I agree with this, however!!! people have to blame themselves for not slowing down in these areas where they damn well know there cattle grazing in these areas for over 20 years, these drivers are so jacked up on speed or on their phones they not focused or paying enough attention to the road around them in front them along side them and behind them.smh and they want to blame the cattle owners smmmh…..
Why doesn’t government put 2 road signs with cow crossings in the area by rituals and before secrets resort.?
I guess this national issue does not fit into the SLP government policy of putting people first.
Day in day out these cows places citizens and road users life at risk and there seems not to be a priority of the government.
The ministers of Transport , National Security and Agriculture have all remain silent in this regard.