Fulton gets the charge
Small farmers issue warning to new JAS president
WITHIN MINUTES of being declared winner of Wednesday’s presidential election for the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Lenworth Fulton was on the receiving end of unsolicited advice about how to run the umbrella organisation for which he takes administrative control in September.
“Make sure seh you fix up the Denbigh Showground,” one farmer charged, advice that was quickly followed by a not-sosubtle reminder about the fickleness of human nature. “You make sure that the voice of the small farmer is heard, you hear, sir? Or else we will vote you out, just as easy as how we voteed you in.”
Fulton, who campaigned under the theme of ‘Honesty, Integrity, Transparency, Accountability’, has promised, among other things, to lobby Government and the private sector for much-needed improvements in the welfare of farm families and, by extension, the agricultural labour force. He committed to addressing issues such as health insurance and pension benefits.
Fulton, a graduate of the Jamaica School of Agriculture (now College of Agriculture, Science and Education) and Tuskegee University in the United States with a diploma in general agriculture and a bachelor’s degree in economics, respectively, has promised to take the 123year-old organisation into the 21st century.
Delegates of the JAS responded favourably to his promise of transformation by giving him 254 votes, compared to Glendon Harris’ 81. Denton Alvaranga was elected first vicepresident with 258 votes, with only 70 favouring Hugh Johnson for the post. Two hundred and thirty-six gave their votes to Owen Dobson for the post of second vice-president, with Dr Hugh Lambert polling 88.
The elections, which were conducted by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, with Acting Director of Elections Glasspole Brown on hand to oversee proceedings, encountered a number of hiccups, but nothing out of the ordinary, according to Brown.
“We were contracted by the JAS to conduct the election. The counting of the ballots was done electronically, but the voting was the normal manual voting. There were some issues that we encountered, but we were able to work through those. [One such issue was] the late start in terms of the JAS releasing the delegates for voting,” he told The Gleaner.
IT WAS a fiery 123rd annual general meeting of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) on Wednesday in the main auditorium at the Denbigh Showground. From the get-go, it was clear that the farmers were not leaving any questions unanswered – from the handling of financial matters to the election of the new president, who would be heading the organisation.
A cane farmer from Clarendon who referred to himself as ‘Watchdog’ complained that after he took sick, he had expected some sort of loan support from the JAS. But, on “reading the papers”, he learnt that the money that should have been available to farmers to access loans was used up by the workers.
“And mi understand sey that the man who was in charge at the time, Government never do nutten bout it ... and now, he is applying to run as the head of this JAS ... . You can answer dat question fi mi, sah? Is that so?” he said, throwing the question to CEO of the JAS Christopher Emanuel, who was facilitating questions dealing with the financial report.
At Emanuel’s response that he could not answer that question, Watchdog became more agitated.
“Whey you sey, you can tell member what question fi ask? Farmers, unno need to tek charge,” he said to loud cheers from fellow farmers at the meeting.
Emanuel interjected, advising the irate delegate that there was a place and time for everything, but was soon cut off by pleas from farmers, who said that the meeting was the last time that they would be getting an opportunity to air their grouses.
Watchdog, despite the many attempts to get him to give way to others who were in line, refused to budge until he had both candidates – Glendon Harris and Lenworth Fulton – face the question he was asking.
Attempts to shut him down earned the ire of the rest of farmers in the meeting, with them shouting, “Let him ask, bring them out!”
He finally got his way when the two men came on stage. He then asked the question: “Who was in charge of RADA (the Rural Agriculture Development Authority)?” to which Fulton responded that he served as CEO from May 2013 to May 2016.
“Well, a him mi a talk!” Watchdog shouted. “So, are you coming to run JAS like yuh run RADA?”
Fulton responded by listing all his achievements during his three years at the helm of RADA.
The JAS also came under fire for the limited number of persons who were allowed to vote from each division, as well as what farmers said was the JAS’s lack of care for the plight they were facing.