Jamaica Customs crosses borders to reach the Jamaican diaspora
IN ITS thrust to expand its scope and reach its stakeholders in the Diaspora more effectively, the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA), in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, will today host the inaugural staging of ‘Customs Meets the Community – The Diaspora Edition Online’.
This stakeholder engagement will take the form of an online town hall meeting, to be driven by a network of online users from across the diaspora (United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada), who are being invited to join the discussion through online platforms provided by The Gleaner at jamaica-gleaner.com and Nationwide 90 FM. These platforms can also be accessed at the Jamaica Customs Agency website, www.jacustoms.gov.jm.
A number of border regulatory agencies and government entities, including the National Education Trust, Health for Life and Wellness Foundation, and the Department of Cooperatives and Friendly Societies, will also be part of this online forum.
Matters to be discussed include clearing items for charity for the health and education sectors, as well as the concessions available to Jamaicans returning home permanently.
La Donna Manning, director of public relations and customer services at the JCA, said that “while the agency has previously undertaken live streaming of some events, this online meeting will specifically target stakeholders in the diaspora in an effort to provide information and clarity, and importantly, garner their feedback”.
In May 2017, the JCA started its public education series ‘Customs Meets the Community’, an initiative which has allowed the agency to better connect with, and reach stakeholders at the parish level, as encapsulated in the tagline ‘Reaching Our Customers Where They Are’.
Since then, the agency has left footprints in the parish capitals of Santa Cruz, Spanish Town, Port Antonio, Ocho Rios, Savanna-laMar and May Pen. The Customs team will make its next stop in the ‘Sunshine City’ of Portmore, on Wednesday, March 27.
The JCA continues to invite customers, both home and abroad, to contact its customer service representatives at 876 922-5140-8; Toll Free: 888-287-8667; or by email: public.relations@jacustoms.gov.
jm, if they require clarity on any Customs-related matter.