Former RADA head is new JAS president
JAMAICA Agricultural Society (JAS) has a new president in former executive director of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Lenworth Fulton.
Fulton defeated former mayor of Montego Bay, Glendon Harris, for the position in elections held at the 123rd annual general meeting of JAS on Wednesday at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon.
Outgoing President Norman Grant was unable to challenge for the position, after serving two consecutive terms, under the society’s rules. Grant originally served as president between 2003 and 2009, when he was forced to bypass re-election for the same reason.
The 2009 election was won by Harris, who was then mayor of Montego Bay and a People’s National Party (PNP) councillor in the St James Municipal Council, when he defeated head of the All-Island Cane Farmers Association of Jamaica Allan Rickards.
However, Harris stepped down in 2012, allowing Grant to return and serve two additional consecutive terms which end in September.
Fulton’s new team includes Denton Alvaranga, who defeated Harris for the position of first vice-president, and Owen Dobson, who defeated Dr Hugh Lambert for the second vice-presidency post.
The new team will take office officially on September 5th at the first board meeting of the new term when Grant will hand over the reins.
In his departure speech, Grant, who served as a Government senator during the Administration of former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, between 2012 and 2016, noted that JAS had a successful 2017, notwithstanding several challenges which he suggested the society must face if its transformation is to succeed.
He said that for the period ending March 31, 2018, the society’s comprehensive income for the year was $30 million, in comparison with $7 million last year, and its net assets now stand at $529 million, compared with $489 million last year, a growth rate of eight per cent.
He said that, meanwhile, the JAS’s long-term debt stands at $39 million, down from $30 million last year.
Grant noted that, in 2003, when he first took office, JAS net asset base was $175 million, but has now grown to $529 million, representing a per annum growth of $23 million, or 13 per cent annually.
— Balford Henry
