Dear Editor,

I write on behalf of the Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Limited and the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association to express sympathy at the passing of the former chairman of the board of directors of the Coffee Industry Board (now Jamaica Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority), attorney-at-law, author, and former Senator Delano Franklyn who transitioned February 10.

During his association with the Coffee Industry Board as chairman of the board of directors and work with the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association we benefited from his tremendous legal ability and leadership in assisting and guiding the process of transitioning from the Coffee Industry Board to the Jamaica Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority as well as the development and implementation of a new regulation to levy a cess on imported coffee, which should be used for the development and expansion of the local coffee industry.

Personally, I benefited from his personal and legal support and guidance when I served as president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and we worked together as government senators when he was junior minister of foreign affairs. In this capacity he pioneered the establishment of the Diaspora movement and conference.

He is gone but will not be forgotten, and his work will live on.

Condolence to his wife Tricia Shay and children, grandchildren, other relatives, and friends.

May his soul rest in peace.

Norman W Grant

Managing director and CEO, Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Limited

President, Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association

ngrant@mbcfcoffee.com