Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen is encouraging Scouts across the island to follow in the footsteps of their founder Lord Baden Powell by making the world a better place than they find it. He was speaking last Thursday at the Public Meeting of the Scout Association of Jamaica which is held annually at King’s House during Founder’s Week. He said to achieve this Scouts would have to make their Oath part of their daily lives. “It must inspire everything that you do and influence you to work hard and be on your best behaviour at all times.”
Sir Patrick said scouting is a lifelong mission and urged all scouts to use the lessons learnt and experiences gained to impact their school and community. One way in which he said Scouts could make a contribution is by helping to keep their surrounding clean 
and healthy. “Do your part in order to prevent garbage from getting into our gullies, into our waterways and rivers and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests,” he said.
The Annual Public Meeting also featured the presentation of warrants and awards to scouts and divisional leaders for their outstanding performance over the last year. The Silver Crocodile was awarded to Ronald Weir while John Leiba and Yvonne Webster both received the Silver Pineapple.