Ministers in Jamaica for Ag Show deliver relief supplies

(CNS): The premier, two Cabinet ministers and a parliamentary secretary are currently in Jamaica to attend the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, which takes place today, Tuesday. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who will speak at the event, is accompanied by Agriculture Minister Jay Ebanks, Culture Minister Dwayne Seymour, McKeeva Bush, who is PS to Minister Ebanks, and Acting Department of Agriculture (DoA) Deputy Director Demoy Nash.

According to a CIG release, the trip is being made at the invitation of the Jamaican Government. However, since it coincides with the delivery of more hurricane relief supplies, it would appear that the people of the Cayman Islands are paying for it.

The release gives no stated aims or tangible positive outcomes for Cayman associated with the all-expenses-paid visit, nor does it provide any idea of the cost of the trip, how long it will last or which ministry’s budget will cover it.

The premier also travelled to Jamaica last month to bring post-hurricane help. On that trip, she headed a delegation to deliver a US$200,000 donation to the Building A Better Jamaica Fund, as well as medical supplies donated by the Health Services Authority and Health City Cayman Islands.

Items delivered this time, valued at approximately US$50,000, include generators, chainsaws, tarpaulins, and air mattresses. The Ministry of Education has donated 40 laptops, and HCCI has again donated medical supplies. Some of the cargo was delivered to the island on Sunday, 4 August, and the rest on Monday, 5 August.

The donation comes as part of the US$1.2 million pledge by the Cayman Islands Government to assist the four Caribbean countries most impacted by Hurricane Beryl. Similar donations have already been made to Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The CIG release noted that the Denbigh Show was scaled down from three days to one due to the disruption of the agricultural sector caused by Beryl on 3 July.