UK Diaspora Group to Procure Medical Items for Jamaica

A sub-committee, consisting of members of the Jamaican Diaspora in the United Kingdom (UK), will be established to focus on the procurement of medical supplies for Jamaica.

Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, told JIS News that the decision to form the committee was taken at a recent meeting held at the High Commission, to discuss plans for the upcoming fifth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference in Montego Bay.

“We have a number of groups, organisations and individuals here, who are focused on how they can invest in education and health in Jamaica, in particular,” she said. She informed that discussions were recently held with a Jamaican national, who was in the process of procuring items for the health sector.

The Diaspora conference will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from June 16-19, under the theme: ‘A Nation on a Mission: Jamaica – Diaspora Partnership for Development’.

Mrs. Assamba told JIS News that the Jamaican community is gearing up for the event and 50 persons have already confirmed their attendance.

She informed that at the recent meeting, members were brought up-to-date with the conference agenda and made decisions as to which sessions they would be attending.

“We discussed what our expectations were. People are very positive about the opportunities that they think will be presented to them while they are there,” she told JIS News.

The High Commissioner said she is happy that focus will be placed on health and education and other issues relating to the Diaspora in the UK.

“We will discuss, during that time, issues relating to the APD (Airline Passenger Duty) and the new rules that are coming into place relating to pensions and pension entitlements for spouses who are alive, when their spouses might have contributed to the pension when they were working, and the changes that will take place in that area,” she stated.

Contact: E. Hartman Reckord