Former Jamaican consul general to Miami, John P. Atkins is dead

Jamaica’s former consul general to Miami, John P. Atkins passed peacefully on June 14 at his home in Miami, after a long period of illness. He was 78 years of age.

Atkins served as Jamaica’s consul general for the Southern USA for eight years before his retirement from the diplomatic service in August 2002. Described as one of the longest serving Jamaican consuls general, Atkins joined the Foreign Service in 1989, when he assumed duties at the Miami Consulate as deputy to former Consul General Marie Wray, now deceased.

Consul General R. Oliver Mair paid tribute to Atkins for his kind and encouraging words of advice during a recent visit with him. Mair praised him for his years of service and commitment to Jamaica.

During his tenure, Atkins focused primarily on the immigration and deportation area of his consular duties. Along with other Caribbean diplomats of the Florida Consular Corps, he was instrumental in giving recognition to the Consular Notification System, which obligates municipal police offices in South Florida to immediately report to the respective consulates the arrest and detention of nationals of those respective counties. This became increasingly topical since the passing of the US Immigration Bill 1994, in which immigrants with resident status would be deported, if found guilty following arrests on varying counts of misdemeanour charges.