JAS plagued by ‘cass-cass’ as power struggle erupts
Published:Wednesday | July 6, 2022 | 12:06 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
A wave of discontentment among frustrated members of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) is threatening to disrupt its long-overdue annual general meeting (AGM), which is now set for Wednesday, July 13, in a virtual setting. This follows the admission by the chief financial officer to the June 1 board meeting that the cash-strapped organisation could not afford to host the usual in-person meeting, especially since it is preparing for the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, which returns on July 30-August 1, after a two-year break.
The vacancy created by President Lenworth Fulton’s decision to step down, following a minor stroke, seems to have spawned serious infighting and power struggles at various levels of the organisation.
HURDLES
Everything is set for the AGM, but Fulton told The Gleaner that there are a number of hurdles to be cleared, with less than two weeks to go. Neither Fulton nor his first vice-president, Denton Alvaranga, will be running for office. However, his second vice-president, Owen Dobson, has been nominated for the post of first vice-president. The two aspirants seeking to fill the vacancy left by Fulton’s departure are trade unionist Clifton Grant and President of the Kingston and St Andrew Association of Branch Societies, Albert ‘Jack’ Green. It is anticipated that the winner will be installed in time to take the reins of the JAS ahead of this year’s Denbigh Show.
Fulton disclosed that nominations for the JAS executive – president, first vice-president and second vice-president – were duly held in 2021 and closed off. However, an affiliate member and delegate, Ian Miller, is now suing the organisation to have nominations reopened. When The Gleaner reach out to Miller he declined to comment, on the grounds that the matter was before the courts, but accused the JAS of “taking the farmers dem fi fool, so we a pressure the board fi call the elections”. Dobson was a signature to this letter, which also has the backing of former JAS President Glendon Harris.
There is also a problem with the nomination of Grant, whose nomination is invalid, according to Fulton, since he was not a fully paid-up member at the time of his nomination, as well as the fact that the JAS constitution makes him ineligible to run as a direct member. Despite the legal opinion from a lawyer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Grant is insistent that his nomination was legal and is pressing ahead with his effort to lead the organisation.
Over at the Portland Association of Branch Societies, a recent effort to depose President Larry Robertson was thwarted during its recent AGM. Fulton said that while the meeting was in session, a group of about 50 direct members were outside plotting their strategies for Robertson’s demise, when someone moved a motion to return his executive en bloc and this move was seconded and approved. After that meeting was legally adjourned, the people who were opposed to Robertson then went back inside and held a meeting, where they installed a new executive.
Fulton has since received a call from the lawyer purporting to be acting on behalf of Robertson, who has announced his intention of suing the other group for creating public mischief.
“So there is a legal quagmire right now,” Fulton said, in summing up the situation.