JAS leadership saga close to an end

THE saga of the Jamaica Agricultural Society's (JAS) leadership, which has set back the election of a president and two vice-presidents several times, looks finally headed for a soft landing when the delegates get their chance to vote for their leaders next month.

The elections are now set for July 12, and two teams of leaders of the 127-year-old farmers' body, containing a couple fresh faces, have nominated their teams for the presidency and two vice-presidents who will lead the organisation over the next three years.

For the presidency, one slate is comprised of educator Albert Green, who heads the Kingston and St Andrew Branch Society, while the other trio will be led by Owen Dobson, who holds on from the outgoing Lenworth Fulton camp.

Each candidate for the presidency will be accompanied by candidates for first and second vice-presidency. These are, namely: Tamisha Lee, current president of the Jamaica Network of Rural Women's Producers (JNRWP) for first vice-president, and Trevor Bernard, president of the Small Ruminants Association, for second vice-president, on the green ticket; and Horace O'Gilvie of the St Thomas JAS branch and Audrey Nelson of the Trelawny branch for first and second vice-president, respectively.

Dobson is a former member of Fulton's team, while Lee and Bernard have consistently favoured Green's candidature.

Trade unionist/farmer Clifton Grant, who is the vice-president of the University and Allied Workers' Union (UAWU) and the person most likely to have run for the presidency from Kingston and St Andrew, recently withdrew from the race.

"I have no more interest in running for the presidency," Grant confirmed, acknowledging his support for Green in the election. He said that he would prefer a representative for a member body.

Fulton, in the meantime, has welcomed the return of Floyd Green as minister of agriculture.

"He is not starting from scratch. He is going to begin working where he left off," Fulton said.

"There are some critical things that we need him to look at right now. There are some subsections that need immediate attention... that of the egg farmers' association. They can't sell their eggs," Fulton continued.

According to the monthly tabloid The Agriculturist, Fulton, who was elected in 2018 and should have ended his reign by now under the JAS two consecutive-term rule, wanted to move on from the presidency, after suffering a stroke in 2020. However, he had been unable to do so due to the postponement of hearings by the Supreme Court.

The monthly newspaper added that the JAS president is insisting that, as an incorporated body, a procedure should be followed in which "every year there are meetings, including the election of officers".

Fulton was noted as stating that the practice has been breached and that the decision not to elect officers continues to, unconstitutionally, hamper the society from fulfilling its obligations to the agricultural sector, including electing officers as JAS executives.

Fulton has also been insisting that there is uncertainty surrounding the funding of the JAS, without full support from the Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

"We have been gearing up to secure alternative funding sources but we need more time to replace the Government's contributions," he has been quoted as saying.

He has been calling on the Government to appoint a special investment envoy for the agricultural sector, to help boost investments in farming and cut the food import bill which reached a record US$1.4 billion last year.

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