Consul General to Meet Jamaicans in Queens, New York on March 20

Jamaica’s Consul General in New York, Geneive Brown Metzger, will be in the Borough of Queens, New York on Friday, March 20, at Clippers 11 Lounge, 234-36 Merrick Boulevard, Laurenton, close to the Belt Parkway.
The scheduled three-hour ‘meet and greet’, which starts at 7:00 p.m., will give Queens’ residents an opportunity to go ‘one on one’ with Mrs. Brown Metzger, in what promises to be an engaging discussion on a range of topics including, but not limited to, the new passport regime for Jamaicans and Caribbean Americans.
Consul General Brown Metzger who last week marked her first anniversary on the job, will be accompanied at the forum by her senior staffers, “so that as many of the questions as possible can be answered on the spot, right there at the forum,” she said.
The Queens forum follows similar engagements in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In Boston, Mrs. Brown Metzger told Jamaicans there that the new CARICOM Passport, which went into effect in January 2009, is proof that the regional integration initiative is moving full steam ahead. The new passport will eventually replace the current Jamaican passport, allowing for hassle free travel throughout the region.
Jose Richards, President of Sons and Daughters of Jamaica, Inc., a Queens-based not-for-profit, community outfit and host of the meet and greet forum, said that he is hoping that, “the folks will take the time to come out and share their concerns with the Consul General, and ask questions about what’s going on back home.”
Supporting Mr. Richards in this venture is the Caribbean Business Network, a fledging community enterprise, headed by Neva Alexander. Other strategic partners include; the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board/NE USA Sector; Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA); and Jamaica Impact (JAMPACT), Inc.