St. Thomas Export Centre and Business Information Point Lauded

Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Parish Manager for St. Thomas, Caswell Glover, has lauded the establishment of the Export Centre and Business Information point (EC/BIP) in the parish, which he said will impact on export potential.
The EC/BIP is a component of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), which is a five-year project jointly funded by the Government of Jamaica and the European Union.
The project aims to positively impact national export performance competitiveness, while providing standardized business information. It is a partnership involving the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), the Private Sector Development Project (PSDP), the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), the Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) and the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA).
Mr. Glover was speaking on January 29 at the launch of the Centre held at the RADA’s office in Morant Bay. He said efforts must be made to reduce praedial larceny so that the Centre could realize its potential.
“We are plagued with praedial larceny. If we don’t control praedial larceny our export potential will diminish to nothing and this lovely facility will be an exercise in futility,” he said.
Mr. Glover said the staff at the RADA office was willing to work closely with the police to deal with the problem so as “to improve on our market ability.”He mentioned that in almost every farmer’s group that he visited, there were complaints about the lack of markets and poor road conditions.
Currently, he said, the RADA office was collecting information from farmers to be used in the National Farmers’ Registration Programme. The programme is designed to improve marketing opportunities and to allow for better development planning in the agricultural sector.
The ribbon to open the small room located in the RADA’s office was cut by the Member of Parliament for Eastern St. Thomas, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, accompanied by Deputy Programme Manager at the PSDP, Eleanor Henry; Vice President of the JEA, Michael Ming, and Mr. Glover .