‘It’s outside my jurisdiction’
Public defender says coffee farmer case is private matter, but expresses concern
Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry says the case in which coffee farmer Prince Smith is seeking to retain coffee acreage claimed by Nakashka coffee company limited is private and beyond her office’s jurisdiction.
However, the public defender said she was maintaining interest at a distance, given concern over the coffee farmer’s loss of his and his family’s livelihood. She also indicated that certain “interim steps” have been taken in relation to the farmer’s condition.
Her response follows a Jamaica Observer article in which Smith said that he hoped to gain the interest of the public defender, after losing the case in the parish court and having a request for injunctions thrown out in the Supreme Court.
The public defender told the caribbean business Report, “Let me say that we are very concerned that Mr Smith, has been, it seems, put off lands he has farmed for so many years. OPD (Office of the Public Defender) is unaware of the specific conditions of Mr Smith’s possession and also unaware of Mr Courtney Fletcher’s legal claim of ownership of the land. It appears that the dispute between Prince Smith and Courtney Fletcher is a private and personal dispute which is outside of the jurisdiction of the public defender. Courtney Fletcher is the principal owner of Nakashka Coffee Company.
Harrison Henry continued, “In addition to which, this Commision of Parliament has no jurisdiction over any of the courts of the land. It is my understanding that Mr Smith has been put off the land pursuant to an order of the court. Whilst I am very sympathetic to Mr Smith’s situation and that of several others, this commission of Parliament does not have jurisdiction in matters between private individuals.
“Finally, and notwithstanding all of the above, I have taken some interim steps to protect Mr Prince Smith and have urged him to appoint an attorney at law,” the public defender said.
Prince Smith, who lives and farmed on lands which are formerly part of the Moy Hall Estate in St Thomans, lost his 10-acre farm to land surveyor Courtney Fletcher, who took Smith to court as a trespasser, indicating that he possessed a title to acreage inclusive of the coffee farm.
Jamaicans who have been supporting him have touted a possible claim for compensation hinged on the fact that Smith had leased his acreage through a farmer’s co-operative and had coffee plants valued at over $2 million on about seven acres. Prince possesses a lease document from a cooperative which once controlled the acreage.
Additionally, he and his family have lived on the land in Moy Hall for more than 200 years. Standing Spring Coffee Plantation, known as the Moy Hall Estate, was established in the 1790s by William Mccooty. Smith said his mother had the last name of the original owner.
Other advocates who were responsible for organising a Gofundme appeal for the coffee farmer’s legal fees have been rethinking their strategy after his lawyer, Denise Smith, asked for an injunction preventing Fletcher from taking possession of the land. The attorney told the caribbean business Report that she would not be continuing in her role, hence the farmer’s need for a new attorney.
In the case which was heard on February 1, the appeal for an injunction preventing Fletcher from taking possession was thrown out with new evidence of the lease presented as coming too late.
The caribbean business Report was told that the case will serve as a test for other farmers in the locale, numbering over 50, who are also operating on leases received decades ago on lands which fall within the acreage now being claimed by Fletcher under title.
Prince Smith’s former attorney indicated previously that the Jamaica Agricultural Society went into an agreement with the owners, promising to pay land taxes and put coffee growers on the property. Smith in turn said that he received a lease agreement in 2005.
The farm in Ness Castle in the Cedar Valley region of western St Thomas, Jamaica has approximately 875 coffee trees on each acre.