THE Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) said there will be no staging of the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show this year due to insufficient time to prepare after the passage of Hurricane Beryl. The hurricane has left thousands of farmers reeling and significant damage to the showgrounds in Denbigh, Clarendon.

President of the JAS Lenworth Fulton gave the definitive word on Friday after consulting the board of the entity about putting off the show that was scheduled to run from August 4 to 6 this year.

“Due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl which did significant damage to the farming community across Jamaica and significant damage to the grounds at Denbigh, it seems very unlikely that we could plan a show in two weeks,” Fulton told the Jamaica Observer in a short interview on Friday. “As as a result, the show will not be held this year due mainly to the state of our farmers, and also due to the state of the infrastructure [at Denbigh] which will have to be repaired to host a show,” he said.

Fulton’s clarification comes after he first indicated on Wednesday that the damage he has been told that has been done to the showgrounds and reports of the losses farmers suffered had put the staging of the show in doubt. He said now that staging is beyond doubt and definitely will not happen.

He shared an email he sent to the board of the JAS stating: “Arising from the discussion between myself; Floyd Green, minister of agriculture, fisheries and mining; and Dermon Spence, permanent secretary, they have indicated that the ministry is unable to provide the usual financing towards the Denbigh show this year, based on the effects of Hurricane Beryl on the sector, which might result in a cancellation of the show.”

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining contributed about $20 million of the total $80 million of the cost to stage the show last year and was expected to provide a similar amount this year. However, with the early tallies showing the agricultural sector suffered more than $1 billion in losses from the hurricane, Fulton said the ministry said it will instead redirect the funds to helping farmers recover rather than spending to stage a show in the next two weeks. He also said sponsors have indicated the same.

“The Government officials including the minister and permanent secretary have expressed that it would be difficult to find the amount of money to do the repairs at Denbigh and to assist in putting on the show, while at the same time, the Government’s first priority is to get the farmers back in their fields and to restore their lost produce and livestock,” he said.

Fulton added that a rough estimate is that it will cost about $70 million to repair the damaged infrastructure at Denbigh which included roofs lost from the cattle barn, the President’s Pavillion, electric wires and other structures belonging to input suppliers such as the Banana Board, and others.

He said with the Denbigh show called off this year, the JAS will instead focus more on the other agricultural shows. The JAS stages about eight agricultural shows each year starting from Ash Wednesday with the Hague Agricultural Show in Trelawny each year and culminating in the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show just ahead of the Independence holidays.