BU Covid Dash – Economic Effect

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In the business world there is the familiar quote “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. It simple terms it does not matter the policy implemented, it is the prevailing culture that will determine the degree of success.

The headline in today’s Sunday Sun Bookings Take a Hit was predicted in this space months ago. In our tourism source markets of UK, Canada and the USA there has been high penetration of COVID 19 vaccination of the population that has permitted a return to some since of ‘normalcy’. We observe people in those markets attending sports events, travelling in unrestricted numbers, dining and other pre Covid 19 activities.

While the developed world is moving ahead with finding ways to coexist with coronavirus, Barbados with an economy solely dependent on tourism continues to be engaged in analysis paralysis. Before the pandemic Barbados was a country up to its ‘wazoo’ in debt – easy access to credit at the household and government level, we have developed an addiction to consumption and less to promoting a culture of excellence; high productivity, customer service, innovated and creative thinking to name a few.

It was easy to have predicted tourists – who have the final say where they want to spend – would want to relax at a destination where there is peace of mind. The current situation where Covid 19 numbers are surging for the world to see, we find ourselves in a pickle given the reluctance by government after government to mitigate risks associated with an over dependence on tourism. We the people are not entirely blameless, we have never felt the need to forcefully protest against lazy policies of successive government. The blogmaster buys into the position ‘people deserve the government they get‘.

After more than a decade in the economic doldrum and Barbadians described as suffering from economic fatigue, we are also being described as suffering from Covid 19 fatigue. The effect of the two ‘afflictions’ do not augur well for the future. The reality is that people must adapt to the environment in which they have to exist. If we want to enjoy the benefits (earning hard currency) of being an idyllic, iconic destination we know what we have to do. If we want to engage in analysis paralysis and bellyache about Covid fatigue then suffer the consequences. What should be obvious is that this stage of the game, we cannot pivot to replace the direct and indirect contribution to GDP in the short term. That boat has sailed.

Here is he latest BU Covid 19 Dashboard prepared by Lyall Small.

Attached are 2 charts for last week. We appear to be at a point where the cases per day have been fluctuating around 300 for nearly 2 weeks now. This suggests to me that there has not been an explosive growth in cases over that period and that there is therefore a reasonable chance that we could be nearing a plateau and then a decrease in cases. However, it can go any way and we all should do our individual parts in scrupulously adhering to the protocols, using our common sense and taking the vaccine – Lyall Small

256 thoughts on “BU Covid Dash – Economic Effect”


  1. Feeling great today. I hate to feel this good.
    When I do I always imagine my wife saying… “I don’t understand it. He said he felt great, on top of the world and then he died.”

    Have a great Barbados. Hoping you are feeling on top of the world. Go out and conquer.

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  2. This morning, I told my wife our home is now a Republic. No elections, no referendum and no need for a change in our constitution.

    She doesn’t listen to Bajan Radio, so I was surprised when she did a great impression of Caswell. When I gave her the paper to vote on, she complained about just one box to mark.

    “Check it l, x it or leave it blank.”

    “What is the difference between check and x? They are many proposals that I agreed with by using an x. An x can be whatever you want it to be”

    “I dun wid de old talk. We are a Republic and I am President and Supreme Leader. Here is your list of duties”.

    My Republic lasted 5 minutes. I hope yours last longer.

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  3. GP October 23, 2021 8:36 AM
    “AC CANT YOU SHUT UP SOMETIMES”

    this is the first time I can agree with Garbage Pile…lol🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣

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  5. The blp clowns are out in full force
    However it would be hard to.push back COVID devastating foot prints on the island
    No kidding COVID like flying fish and cou cou
    Too many jokers out in full force today

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  6. There is a new Delta Plus variant that they know is very infectious but do not know how deadly….loosely letting in tourist and saying they are not the enemy or some such will not stop them from INFECTING EVERYONE on the island and KILLING everyone, if investigations EVENTUALLY reveal that the PLUS is much deadlier than the regular Delta…it’s reckless to project that tourists are not a threat to the ENTIRE population when they are the ones who INFECTED THE WHOLE ISLAND INITIALLY….

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  7. Same way they would sell people for a dirty dollar they would kill an entire population for a dirty dollar…tourism pimps who know nothing else…

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  8. @ Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV October 23, 2021 7:09 AM

    The difference between this government and the last one is that the CURRENT government is ready to adapt its policies to the changed circumstances. Our DLP grandees, on the other hand, have repeated the same mistake for 10 years. I think that is called madness.

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  9. Freundel’s response would have been a snore.

    Man slept through how many downgrades again?

    And when he awoke he assured us that we were just having nightmares, even though he was the only one who slept.

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  10. I agree she should have taken your advice and closed the borders. The Overseas Bajan Posse would have multiplied the remittances tenfold in the Barbados Blessing Circle – expecting no return on their “investment”.

    And WE would have been GATHERIN’ the greenbacks.

    The Barbados Blessing Circle is open for “investment”.

    Really!

    When caught between a rock and a hard place one inevitably gets squeezed.

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  11. Mottley let the virus in the country and wants to blame the people
    What she needs to ask herself under whose control and direction was the borders left opened leaving people from hard hit countries to enter
    Barbados numbers are getting worse and she must take full blame and responsibility

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  12. The people know the true culprits: the opposition, which discourages people from getting vaccinated.

    I have drawn up my personal list of proscription, as the Romans said. If our Supreme Leader so wishes, I will storm various mansions and other locals tomorrow to bring these people to justice and hand them over to the Special Republic Police for protective custody:

    leader of the DLP
    the bishop
    the outspoken senator
    BAMP president

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  13. GP…..ya fellow Dr. Fauci is “cautiously optimistic” and WALKING BACK most of what he has been GUSHING AT PEOPLE for nearly 2 years..

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  14. From the horse’s “doctor’s mouth…

    “FAUCI TOLD CONGRESS:”\

    “There is no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective”

    problem with that declaration….THERE ARE DEADLY INFECTIOUS variants running amok….and those are the only vaccines available…

    trapped…

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  15. “A 77-year-old male died at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility. He was fully vaccinated.

    Meanwhile, a 75-year old female succumbed to the viral illness while in tertiary isolation at Queen’s College. She was unvaccinated.”

    in many cases it does not matter either way anymore…

    the director of public heath in israel….told it exactly as it is, they cannot afford to hide it anymore….

    and as for that sinopharm vaccine…indonesia and other countries got old hell…

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  16. SUPER SALESWOMAN

    In addition, she said: “Barbados has that mix of Caribbean quaintness and international sophistication…. Here in Barbados, the culinary capital of the region, the range of restaurants that you will find here are at the highest quality across the world; from a rum shop and a bar with great food to a restaurant where you can have a combination of international cuisine with Bajan or Bajan food with an international twist.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/10/23/friendly-people-cuisine-and-attractions-make-barbados-tourism-product-unique/

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  17. Can anyone say that this is not true? The way things are going, the only people who have immunity from the injury and death of others are the vaccine manufacturers. Should there be any world court trials greedy criminals from small islands will not be exempt..

    “A CERTAIN PROCURER OF VACCINES ON BEHALF OF CERTAIN PEOPLE WAS ALSO THE PROCURER OF THE VENTILATORS WHICH HAVE NOW BEEN FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE.

    I WONDER IF THEY FOUND THAT OUT AFTER OR BEFORE SOMEONE HAD DIED.”

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  18. WELFARE SPIKE
    Minister reveals struggle as requests almost triple last year’s
    By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
    The number of Barbadians signing up for welfare assistance because of the COVID-19 pandemic has nearly tripled from last year, leaving Government struggling to find the human resources to keep up with the demand.
    But Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde said it was not a case of having insufficient financial resources to distribute to the needy.
    Forde told the Sunday Sun that while she did not have the exact figures from the Welfare Department, an additional 1 400 households had been added to the 4 300 placed on the administration’s Adopt-A-Family programme last year.
    “At this point it is difficult to keep track because the numbers keep changing daily. Every day people are coming to us with the light bills cut off and numbers have grown exponentially, about three times what we had last year, and it is just the reality of the times.
    “This month has been particularly bad as we had a rush of people coming forward who could not pay their light or other utility bill. More people are drawing on welfare as well and rightly so.”
    Forde said there were only 50 social workers, which represented a pooling of officers from other ministries, dealing with the ever-growing case load.
    “We have been unable to advance in the manner we would like because of the stretching of human resources. It has nothing to do with our finances. Our officers are working around the clock. The number of persons needing assistance are growing daily, but the number of social workers are not and we have only 50 social workers out in the field,” said Forde, who noted that the department was still required to keep up with its usual functions along with new ones brought on by the pandemic.
    “It means that everyone can’t get the urgent attention that is required, even though there is no shortage of financial resources at all. We still have to deal with HIV/AIDS persons on the programme as well as an increase in domestic violence. I am ashamed to say that during this pandemic,
    men have been pulverising women at a worrying rate and because of the curfew, these women are around these men all the time. We have the disabilities department, the senior citizens, and we are trying to cope as best we can under the circumstances,” she added.
    Forde said the situation had been made worse by parents in COVID-19 isolation centres, who insisted on taking their children with them even though their wards had not tested positive for the virus.
    “Our ministry has pulled together 50 social workers from other governmental agencies like education and the probation office. We did not pull the ones from the Ministry of Health and Wellness because they require their officers more than ever. So those officers, along with the Child Care Board, have the task of making sure that these children are not left unattended when the parents bring them to the isolation centres.
    “Those officers have to ensure that these children do not get infected and are supervised. It’s because of issues like this, which stretch our resources even thinner, that we have been unable to advance a number of things that we want to do,” she added.
    Forde expressed concern about the psychological toll this strain was having on the officers, as many of them had to do their job in conjunction with their usual family responsibilities.
    “Our social workers have families as well. They have children who can’t go to school (face-to-face classes) or to the nursery. Many of the supervisors have elderly parents that need round-the-clock care. So along with the fact that these officers are stretched, it is having a serious psychological impact on them,” she said.

    Source: Nation

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  20. welcome to the nightmare.

    “Health leaders have urged the government to introduce “some kind of Plan B” with emergency departments in a “terrible place” amid rising levels of coronavirus infections.

    a colorful bus parked in front of a truck: Prof Finn said vaccines alone will not combat rising infection rates at present© Imagebridge Prof Finn said vaccines alone will not combat rising infection rates at present
    Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, warned ministers that hospitals are “already struggling to cope” and that medical professionals are worried about the winter months ahead.

    Meanwhile, Professor Adam Finn, who is on the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday that COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising and the government must not be “complacent”.

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  21. Agree 100% that employers wearing greed should answer these questions regarding vaccine injury and death and if they and the government are going to accept liability. It’s one thing to make an informed decision to be vaccinated. It’s quite another to be lied to, tricked forced and coerced and then get injured or die.

    “Dear sir .
    I write regard to the matter of potential covid vaccine and my desire to be fully informed and appraised of all facts before going ahead. Let it be noted that I’m not anti vaccine, as I have been vaccinated before.
    But I’d be most grateful if you could please provide the following information, in accordance with statuary legal requirements.

    1) … Can you please advise the approved legal status of any vaccine and if it is experimental?

    2) … Can you please advise me on the entire list of contents of the vaccine I am to receive and if any is toxic to the body?

    3) … Can you please fully advise me of all the adverse effects or reactions associated with the covid vaccine since it’s introduction?

    4) … Can you please confirm that the vaccine advocated is NOT experimental MRNA Gene altering therapy?

    5) … Can you please advise me of the likely risks of fatality, should I be unfortunate to contract covid and the likelihood of recovery?

    6) … Can you please advise me if I were to experience any adverse reactions, is the manufacturer of the vaccine liable? And if the manufacturer is not liable will your company I’m currently employed with, be responsible and liable as it is your request that I have the vaccine in order to carry on my employment?

    7) … can you please advise me as to whether PCR testing is an accurate diagnostic tool?

    8) … Can you please provide details and assurances that the vaccine has been fully independently and vigorously tested against control groups and the subsequent outcome of those tests?

    9) … Can you please confirm that I will not be under any duress from yourself as my employer, in compliance with the Labour Laws, the Constitution of Barbados and the Nuremberg Code?

    Once I have received the above information in full and I’m satisfied that there is NO threat to my health, I will be happy to accept your offer to receive the treatment, but with certain conditions.
    Namely That :

    1) … You confirm in writing that I will suffer no harm.

    2) … Following acceptance of this, the offer must signed by a fully qualified Doctor who will take full legal and financial responsibility for any injuries occuring to myself, and/or from any interactions by authorized personnel regarding these procedures.

    3) … In the event that I should have to decline the offer of vaccination, please confirm that it will not compromise my position and that I will not suffer prejudice and discrimination as a result?

    I would also advise that my inalienable rights are reserved.”

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  24. Given the very high level of infection in Barbados, it can be assumed that by next spring our “Amerindians” will all be immunised – naturally – despite their lack of willingness to be vaccinated. LOL.

    Did Winston Clarke also have Corona?

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  25. Plan to upgrade sewage plant
    BARBADOS IS SEEKING US$39 million in grant funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the upgrade of the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant.
    This was disclosed by the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) technical consultant Dr John Mwanza during a tour of the facility by GCF’s executive director Dr Yannick Glemare yesterday.
    “The whole intent of the upgrade of the Bridgetown plant is to be able to reuse the treated waste water for irrigation and groundwater return,” Mwanza explained.
    Consultant Dr Hugh Sealy said the funds would finance the upgrade of that plant “from a secondary to a tertiary treatment plant”.
    Glemare got a first-hand insight into areas for which Barbados is seeking funding during a tour of various sites and projects conducted by a team of Government officials led by Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Marsha Caddle, along with technocrats from various related departments.
    Caddle told Glemare the issues of climate vulnerability were extremely important for nations like Barbados, one of the world’s most water-scarce countries.
    “We have the issue of being able to connect the water sector issues to the fact that we also have an agriculture sector that requires water and a water sector that also draws heavily on the energy sector,” she said.
    She added that as Barbados prepared for the upcoming Conference of
    Partners ( COP 26), a major international climate summit due to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, next week, it was important to have GCF on board with Barbados’ objectives, along with the support of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
    Glemare described his visit as “a unique opportunity for the Green
    Climate Fund to better understand the vision of Barbados for low emission climate resilient development.
    “We are extremely interested in the Roofs To Reef approach because it can serve as a model to a number of countries on how to integrate water, land, agriculture and energy in a concerted approach. This visit is worth gold because nothing replaces meeting real persons and having direct contact with project champions,” he said. ( GC)

    Source: Nation

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  26. I told you guys to seal off those borders. You chose to ignore the advice. Now we can witness the folly flowing from that catastrophic misjudgement.

    If those borders had been sealed, life would have been too sweet for the population. You would have had free movement, to congregate in churches and to have sent your kids to school.

    Instead we now have so-called safe zones. A term that is used almost exclusively by those from the LGBT community. These zones are areas where this community can live with out fear or reprisals.

    Off cause this so-called safe zone has barred the non vaccinated from entering it. Don’t fool yourself there are no safe zones out there.

    Oh what an unholy mess we are in. What do you expect when you allow yourself to be controlled by a pack of domestic and outside foreigners. These people do not have your interests at heart.

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    • Why do you persist in posting nonsense? We are in a pandemic, do you understand what is a pandemic? Further the community spread on the island is 90% plus among locals.


  27. @TLSNOctober 26, 2021 5:34 AM

    Our population has obviously learned nothing from the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, so that we now have to pay a high blood toll. It may be horrible for individual victims, but our government is innocent when the population now wants to fight Corona with garlic and hot showers, just like back in the 1980s.

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  28. TLSNOctober 26, 2021 5:34 AM

    THIS POST MAKES MORE SENSE THAN MOST OF THE CUT AND PASTE RUBBISH POSTED ABOVE
    OUR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS LED BY MIA HAVE ;LOST IT—TOTALLY LOST IT.
    MOST INEPT AND INEFFECTIVE AND INVENTIVE AND IGNORANT POLICY
    SAFE ZONES INDEED. SAFE FROM WHAT?

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  29. DavidOctober 26, 2021 5:38 AM

    Why do you persist in posting nonsense? We are in a pandemic, do you understand what is a pandemic? Further the community spread on the island is 90% plus among locals
    Xxxx
    Now givt is implementing staged pandemania
    For which there is no vaccine after the horse has bolted

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  30. TLSNOctober 26, 2021 5:34 AM

    I told you guys to seal off those borders. You chose to ignore the advice. Now we can witness the folly flowing from that catastrophic misjudgement
    Xxxxx
    You and hundred more voices
    But the mantra was one of economic survival
    Now what all are witnessing is a colossal failure of being a penny wise and a pound flooish

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  31. Read ePaper
    Home / Local News / Elderly man questions $12 000 water bill

    Elderly man questions $12 000 water bill – by Emmanuel Joseph January 13, 2022
    An elderly Christ Church man has complained that he is not getting any “proper” answers from the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) after receiving a bill for $12,000.

    Sixty-nine-year-old Elston Sealy of Wilcox Hill said he has been trying unsuccessfully to get the BWA to explain to his satisfaction why his water bill was so high.

    “I been in [to the BWA office] and they said maybe there is a leak. I got my son to get a recognised plumber to come and he said there is no leak here. They come and check the meter and said there is nothing,” said Sealy, who lives in a small house on the western end of the Grantley Adams International Airport runway.

    “If I showed you the bills from 2017 how it jumped from $27 one time, then another time it came in for $1,000…. This is ridiculous. No one, no one wants to give no answers and tell you what is what. This was going on since 2017…. The water was disconnected. It only came back on because of the COVID. And when the COVID turned it on, it had owed $11,000. I have all the receipts in there,” the disgruntled Christ Church resident declared while displaying the latest bill for $12,000.

    “How could I owe $12,000 in water? You know wuh is $12,000? It would take probably a lifetime for you to use that amount of water; and if you see the amount that does come in per month…$1,000, $600; $800… and they tell me a leak. I live in a little chattel house here. I don’t even bathe regularly. I don’t know how the water get to $12,000. Nobody can say anything; anything at all,” Sealy bemoaned.

    And with a general election around the corner the visibly upset Christ Church East constituent who also complained of not having received a pension as yet, added: “I ain’t voting this time. It is useless. It doesn’t make sense voting. Poor people here are suffering, especially the old ones like myself. I haven’t seen him [Member of Parliament Wilfred Abrahams] yet come around to say nothing. I ain’t voting this time.”

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  32. Shame shame govt continues to play with the lives of the most vulnerable
    Shameful.enough to.read that this person water was at some time turned off
    Now being saddle with twelve thousand water bill
    How is it that govt can open its ears and heart to big business but when it comes to the elderly financial owes the silence is deafening
    Need I remind the blp attacking bees that govt had a million dollar heart to help big business solve their debts in tax write offs and as of recent the whinning garment moguls with a million dollar plan for purchased uniforms

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  33. “Instead we now have so-called safe zones. A term that is used almost exclusively by those from the LGBT community. These zones are areas where this community can live with out fear or reprisals.”

    My focus here is very narrow.
    Trying to get my head around that paragraph. I was not aware that safe zones had anything to do do with the LGBT community. Does that mean we should not use the phrase? Do you think they should not have a safe zone?

    That paragraph adds nothing to your contribution. Wondering if it says something about you

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  34. Here this Mottley wanna think wanna can use Covid as a big stick to trample.all over people’s right

    BREAKING: The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.

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  36. @ TheOGazerts,
    I believe you have misinterpreted my words. On reflection, my words, should have been more precise.

    The word safe zone is a misnomer in the the context of covid-19. It was foolish for Mia to employ such words. To suggest there are areas/zones which are virus free perpetuates a notion of irresponsibility in one’s behaviour where social distancing can be ignored and masks can be jettisoned.

    This dumb remark was made by Mia to boost tourism egged on by hoteliers. The safe zone theory has helped to augment the rise in the spread of the virus.

    Bajans are great with words. When my Grandmother (RIP) had a headache she would say “my head swing swing”. I have no idea why Mia would employ such a term whilst addressing a Barbados audience.

    I heard yesterday the term ” tourist village” used by the Minister of Tourism. This language makes me feel uncomfortable.

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  37. A concern
    How is it possible here in Barbados that it takes more that thirty days of a person death for the coroner’s office to released the body
    These are real stories with families having to wait more than a month to bury their love ones because the coroner’s office is slow in handling the release of the body
    I know of a family.whose mom died on the 28 th of dec and is awating.the release of the body only to.be told that there are others before them
    Sad

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  38. Crop theft continues govt comes out and spew political rhetoric asking people not to buy products from road side vendors
    That type of govt responses bodes well to say that the good vendor would be caught up in the dragnet of low customer response Hence an inability to gain a livelihood and eventually go out of business
    The answer to such problem.as crop theft lies within a govt that have long term vision having measures that can help the legitimate farmer secure their products
    Crop theft and animal theft is a world wide problem
    However govts have been able to tackle such problems with measures that have helped the farmer

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