Jamaican Gov’t moving to fill honorary consul vacancies in US
Published:Friday | March 22, 2024 | 12:11 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
The Jamaican Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, is moving to fill a number of vacant honorary consul posts across the United States (US).
Among the individuals being nominated is Shauna Chin, who would become the new honorary consul in Los Angeles, California.
Chin currently serves as the vice-chair of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council. Her appointment has been approved at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and forwarded to the US State Department for its agreement.
The position has been vacant since last year when the person occupying the post resigned.
Other notable vacancies exist in Boston, Massachusetts, which has been vacant since 2020. The names of two people have been put forward to fill this vacancy and they are awaiting interviews with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before a recommendation is made to the State Department for approval.
The post of honorary consul in Richmond, Virginia, which has been vacant since 2016, should be filled shortly, as a candidate has been identified and his name put forward. He is, however, awaiting an interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before his name is submitted to the State Department for approval.
In San Jose, California, a candidate to fill this vacancy has also been identified and is awaiting an interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Calls for removal
In Atlanta, Georgia, two people are under consideration to replace the current honorary consul.
The present holder of the position has not found favour with the community and many calls have been made for her removal. To this end, two people are being considered for the post, one of whom should be named shortly.
Over in Concord, New Hampshire, where the post has been vacant since 2018, a candidate to fill the position is yet to be identified.
Honorary consuls are currently in place in Houston, Texas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington, Chicago, Illinois and Bermuda.
Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks, who oversees all Jamaican diplomats and honorary consuls in the US, told The Gleaner that it was important to have the honorary consuls in place to serve the needs of members of the Jamaican community.
“Our honorary consuls do outstanding jobs seeing to the needs of our Jamaicans, and so it is important that we move to fill vacancies where they exist,” she said.