Westmoreland looks to break out, as D-Day looms for JAS

THE WESTMORELAND Association of Branch Societies (ABS) of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) will host only its second parish show at Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar on Sunday, May 28, under the theme, ‘Grow Smart, Eat Smart’, showcasing the best in livestock and crop farming, as well as the latest innovation and technology.

President of the Westmoreland ABS, Owen Dobson, told The Gleaner that many years ago it held an agricultural show with strong support from the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce, but had been unable to keep it going after the initial staging. Now things are looking much better and the Westmoreland show will now be added to the annual calendar of events, under the umbrella of the JAS.

The organisation encountered many challenges, but Dobson and his team managed to put together an attractively packaged family event, which will cater to locals, as well as tourists. Sponsors are coming onboard, but there is still room for greater financial support.

“This time around we finally put it together and came up with a good show which will really impress people with our cattle and other livestock displays, and our home economic people will also have a chance to exhibit the many jams, jellies and drinks. Of course, we will have entertainment and other activities to engage the youngsters, so it is really a show for everyone.”

The event is in keeping with a mandate from JAS President Lenworth Fulton that all parish associations develop income-generating streams, with May being the deadline for the government to wean the organisation off its books. That action came out of a Cabinet decision and was communicated to the JAS last year.

As a statutory body, the JAS reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and must get approval from the Ministry of Finance to engage in any commercial or other income-generation activity, which, over the years, the state has been reluctant to give. For this reason, the JAS has been constrained in its efforts at expanding into areas that would have given it greater autonomy and financial sustainability.

Members of staff are considered to be civil servants and so the Fulton administration has been seeking to negotiate at least a three-year carry-on grant to allow it to hire persons on contract to run the JAS, until it gets going. It also wants tax-free status for all its properties, much like what the Church enjoys.

Meanwhile, former JAS President Norman Grant was blunt in his demands for the government to set the 128-year organisation free to manage its own affairs.

“The government has benefited from the legacy of the JAS and, therefore, as a golden handshake, it should give us a sum and then retire us and we will proceed now to move into several projects to transform the agricultural sector,” he told a Gleaner Editors Forum at its Church Street head office in downtown Kingston in August 2010.