THE GLEANER, MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS A6 REMEMBEREDFORher 1990sbook, Jonah, author LustaRoseNeitaand fashiondesigner recentlypassedawaypeacefullyat her home inDiscoveryBay, StAnn, after ailing for some time. Lusta Rose, who was wife of author and public relations consultant Lance Neita, was 75. She died in January and her funeral was held late February. During the 1990s, she operated Select Enterprise, a clothing and fashion-designing business in Discovery Bay that employed up to 20 persons during its operation. In1996, LustaRosewon first place ina JCDC festival fashion-designing competition with a dress that she designed and built. Her passion for fashion designing would have been inspired by her latemother, Lucille Higgins, a dressmaker who was well known in Kingston. Higgins operated a dressmaking facility in Cross Roads several decades ago and would have facilitated Lusta Rose honing her skills there before branching out to St Ann. “Shegrewupwith that kindof thingandshe loved it,”Lance told TheGleaner. LustaRosewasalsooneof the first Jamaicans to be trained overseas in food management, receiving a diploma in food management and banquet management from the Culinary Institute of America, affording her the opportunity toopenherowncateringbusiness. One very important piece of her lasting legacy, however,wouldbe thebook Jonah, for which Discovery Bay artist Margaret McNeish was commissioned todo illustrations.Thebook contains 14 full pages of illustrations by the artist. carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com Author, fashion designer Lusta Rose Neita dies at 75 Christopher Serju/ Senior Gleaner Writer THE SLOW pace or failure to implement policies onmitigation and adaptation strategies to address climate change throughout the Caribbean was highlighted as an issue of major concern by panellists during Thursday evening’s March edition of the Central Bank of Barbados’ Economic Forum. Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Natural Resources Institute in Trinidad and Tobago, Cletus Springer, pointed out that the pace of the projects, which take anywhere between three and five years from conception to completion, did not suggest urgency in the region’s response. In fact, many of the projects did not even reflect a deepening consideration of climate-change impacts, he said. “I still see hotels going up and being approved for the coastal zones. I still don’t see enough attention being paid to building the resilience of our water resources, and in many cases, the water resources that we use are our surface water resources, except for Bermuda and Barbados,” said Springer during the virtual forum, which examined the theme ‘Building Resilience Against Climate Change’. “We saw some extensive damage being done to the water sector and Dominica, which, perhaps of all the countries in the Caribbean, is the one that has developed a culture of resilience to climate change and is moving steadfastly to build its resilience to climate change.” Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Professor Michael Taylor, explained that there is an inherent vulnerability in the Caribbean to climate change, which has been having a multiplier effect. “We are located in this tropical belt in this extreme weather alley…and so we can’t escape this. Our size, we are small islands, we live on coast lines, so everything that you can think of that is major such as our cities, electricity infrastructure, health centres, all exist within a few kilometres of the coast. And if you try to get away from the coastline, in most territories, the steep, hilly, rugged interior adds another sensitivity to the climate,” according to Taylor. SENSITIVITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE Caribbean life, for the most part, is patterned around sectors that have a strong sensitivity to climate change, with tourism and agriculture, two of the main drivers of the regional economies, having an especially strong effect on quality-of-life sectors such as water and health. “We pattern our lives around climate, and what climate is doing in this unfamiliar era is taking that sensitivity and turning it into an extreme vulnerability, and it means that part of what is holding us back, clearly, is our lack of recognition of this sensitivity to climate and how much it pervades every single area of our lives,” he warned. Meanwhile, director of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Climate Analytics Caribbean Office, Rueanna Haynes, said that a lot of work has been done in academia and by governments that have been proactive in enacting climate policy and pushing for more ambitious climate action. Despite this, there is still much more that needs to be done. “What we do need to see more of at this point, though, is actual implementation of those polices. We are at a point where we need to accelerate our response to the global climate crises. We are now at a crisis stage in the sense that impacts that we are already experiencing are accelerating - and dangerously so,” said Haynes. christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com Caribbean experts call for action on climate change Lusta Rose Neita CONTRIBUTED Christopher Serju/ Senior Gleaner Writer THE JAMAICA Agricultural Society (JAS) is awaiting word from the Cabinet on its request to host the Montepelier (St James) and St Mary agricultural shows on Easter Monday, with an eye also on staging its annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show for the first time in three years. The 2020 Clarendon show would have been the 68th staging of the marquee annual event, which usually coincides with Independence weekend when thousands of Jamaicans flock the island to reconnect with their culture and heritage. The JAS has been especially hard-hit by the cancellation of each staging since then, and President Lenworth Fulton estimates that the cumulative financial fallout from that Denbigh alone would run up to $2 billion. The lost opportunities include the showcasing of innovative farming equipment, as well as technology transfer, sale of plants and animals, investments by telecommunications companies and financial institutions. Local and overseas companies use the opportunity to showcase new products, including new drugs for treating animal and plant diseases. With its accounts now deep in the red, the JAS is looking to kickstart its calendar of events and restore some semblance of feasibility to its operations. “We wrote to both the Ministry of Agriculture and Health seeking permission to kick off with the Montpelier and the St Mary shows and, by extension, to start to prepare for Denbigh. So we are doing light preparation, but we can’t go full force until we get a response from the permanent secretary (Dermon Spence); and he responded in a letter to say the matter has been referred to the Cabinet,” Fulton told The Gleaner. “I have every intention of having the shows, if permission is given in time to allow us to get funding and sponsorship support, etc.” Fulton also stressed that if it gets permission to host the shows, the JAS would have to ensure that there is strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols. He gave the assurance that the required support staff could be foundwithin itsmembership. The impact of climate change on agriculture, the environment, and rural development would occupy centre stage at any future staging of these shows. Greater focus on food security and nutritionwould also be expected to feature strongly amid the challenges highlighted by the COVID19 pandemic. Over the years, the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show has enjoyed success as the Caribbean’s premier agricultural event, epitomisingwholesome family entertainment and attracting well over 80,000 patrons each year. Much-anticipated highlights include the National Farm Queen, National Champion Farmer, National Greenhouse Farmer, National ChampionYoung Farmer, and National Champion Woman Farmer competitions. Theminister of agriculture and fisheries usually takes centre stage on the first day, the governor general on the second, and the primeminister closing on the final day. christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com Fulton gunning for return of Denbigh Agri Show Janet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer WESTERN BUREAU: AS THE recovery of the tourism industry moves intohighgear, Jamaica’sMinister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says opportunities havebeencreated for the supply chain to be reactivated. In syncwith the 27,000 visitors who landed on the island this past weekend, the largest number since the pandemic, Bartlett noted that that buoyancy enables more local suppliers to tap markets that had been stifled by a monthslong dip in arrivals. Last Friday, Bartlett, along with St Elizabeth SouthWesternMember of Parliament FloydGreen andhis St ElizabethSouthEasterncolleague, Frank Witter, handedover 50water tankswith irrigation fittings for 50 farmers inNewell toproducewinter vegetables for the tourism sector. They are farming tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, cantaloupe, melon, lettuce, and peanuts. Bartlett is clear inhis conviction that thebenefits of a rebounding economy should benefit local suppliers rather than importers. “This is part of the Tourism Linkages Network programme, of buildingcapacity amongour small enterprises, to supply the tourist industry on a consistent basis of quality and quantity,” he told TheGleaner onSunday, adding thatmembers of the irrigationdivisionof theMinistryof Agriculture were part of the project. They visited one of the farms where the tanks have been installed and irrigation system was effective. Newell is the latest community the TourismLinkages Network teamhas focused on. Farmers inLilliput andLathiuminSt James have also been beneficiaries. BANKS URGED TO INVEST MORE Enabling greater input in the tourism supply chain will reduce the foreign exchange leakage andprovidemore jobs andeconomicwell-being for Jamaicans, said Bartlett. He stressed that the recovery of tourism must see the local supply chain recovering as well. “There must not be a gap between the rate of tourismrecoveryand the rateof improvement and increase inour capacity to supply on its demand,” he said. Inhis statement tothe farmers, Bartlett appealed tobanks andother financial institutions to invest in the supply side as well as the manufacturing sector to producemore. Theministerdidnot leaveout theentertainment and cultural industries. Bartlett estimates thatwith theglobal demand for food in the tourism industry, Jamaica would have spent somewhere in the region of about $500 billion. “Food and drink and all the consumables,” he qualified, stating that Jamaica has a capacity to only supply 25 per cent of that amount. That equates to approximately J$125 billion, which he saidwas low. Bartlett made a call for large farmers to seize opportunities in the industry. “Get into technologyanddovertical agriculture. Get intohydroponics andall theseothermethods that are now driving higher levels of production in the agricultural sector,”he said. In themeantime, the tourismminister is excited about the trajectory for March. “It’s as strong as 2019 March - when you can talk about a weekend of 27,000 and a projection showing a strongmonth, roughly 7,000 per day,” he said. The country’s main tourism source markets are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com Farmers urged to reap profits in resurgent tourism sector Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett (second left) engages in discussion with (from left) St Elizabeth South Western Member of Parliament Floyd Green; St Elizabeth South EasternMP FranklinWitter, who is also stateminister for agriculture; Dr CareyWallace, executive director of the TourismEnhancement Fund; and Nicolea Scott, beneficiary farmer from Newell, last Friday. They were discussing the operation of a water tank and accompanying fittings donated and installed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund. CONTRIBUTED FULTON
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