Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Professor Kenneth Hall (2nd right) shakes the hands of Orville Clarke (left) cane cutter, during a tour of the Frome Sugar Factory in Westmoreland. Looking on are Mrs. Rheima Hall (right), wife of the Governor General; Aston Smith (third right), Vice President of Operations at Frome; and Sergeant Wint, member of the Governor General’s security team.
Accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Rheima Hall; Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Roger Clarke; Custos of Westmoreland, Owen Sinclair; and Chairman of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), Robert Levy, the Governor-General met and greeted clerical and administrative staff, field staff and workers in the factory, as he familiarized himself with every aspect of operations at the factory.
The planned tours are expected to give visibility to the main sectors that drive the economy, and help to increase the knowledge of Jamaicans about the nature and magnitude of the productive sector. It is also hoped that the tours will motivate and inspire employees to continue to support the process of national growth and development.
Following the tour, Professor Hall described the occasion as a unique and special one, emphasizing that visiting entities within the productive sector would be given priority by his office this year.
“We will still of course do our annual visits to the parishes as we have done over the years, and we will continue our programmes in Youth. But we do believe that visiting the productive sectors, meeting with the managers, the workers, the financiers and the technical people is a way for us to have a better understanding of the country, and to have a better understanding of the link with all of those who are engaged in the productive sectors,” he said.
Professor Hall noted that he has been doing a lot of reading about the sugar industry, all the technicalities involved in the industry and its impact on the surrounding communities. He emphasized the importance of the sugar industry to the economy, adding that all involved in the industry needed support.
The Governor-General commended all the workers in the industry. “You have my full support, my congratulations and admiration,” he said.
Professor Hall presented Vice President of Operations in the SCJ at Frome, Aston Smith, with a certificate of appreciation, for the excellent work the Frome division has been doing under his guidance.