MONTEGO BAY, St James — ATLANTA’S mayor Kasim Reed has announced a 50 per cent increase in the supply of medicine for the annual Atlanta/ Montego Bay Sister Cities Health Mission, as of next year.

He disclosed that the proposed increase is as a direct result of a request from his Montego Bay counterpart, Glendon Harris.

“I want to announce today that we are going to increase the amount for medicine, as result of your mayor’s leadership, by 50 per cent for the visit next year, so we are going to help a whole lot more people,” he stressed.

The Atlanta mayor was speaking last Friday during the opening ceremony of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) Expo 2013, held in partnership with the Culinary Federation of Jamaica (CFJ) Taste of Jamaica at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall.

The relationship between the cities of Atlanta and Montego Bay dates back to 1984. A similar tie was later forged between the chambers of commerce of both cities.

Reed noted that over the past 19 years some 45,000 Jamaicans have benefited from the health mission which he hailed as the shining light of the partnership between both cities.

“The most important tie of Montego Bay and the City of Atlanta we have had is really the health mission, which is led by Dr (Yvonne) Smith,” the American politician said.

“For 19 of the 20 years Dr Smith has been coming as a part of the effort where we share healthcare with this extraordinary community. And today (Friday) I was informed that we should be doing more. I was told that if we could increase the funding for medicine we could see so many more people.”

Meanwhile, the MBCCI Expo 2013 held under the theme, ‘Services Globalisation…Enabling Business Development,’ which attracted over 80 exhibitors, and CFJ Taste of Jamaica, climaxed on Sunday.

Gloria Martin, vice president of the MBCCI, expressed her delight over the successful staging of the annual

trade show.