Three representatives from Flag Up Scotland Jamaica – Graham Campbell, Ish Lennox and David Pott were at a meeting of the Petitions Committee at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday December 19th. They presented the petition, the focus of which was “to urge the Scottish Government to create a formal bilateral partnership with Jamaica and make it a Priority Country for trade and international development, as a means of acknowledging that trade with Jamaica has contributed significantly to the foundations of economic growth and prosperity in Scotland and recognising that Scotland should now seek to advance the prosperity of Jamaica.”
The Petition Committee meetings are televised and our presentation can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zloco-Yepg0 starting after 1 hour and 19 minutes of that meeting and it lasts for just 16 minutes.
We are glad to report that the petition was well received. The Committee agreed to forward the petition for further consideration to the Scottish Government and the Cross-Party Group on the Caribbean. They will also write to local authorities to find out if any of them have existing connections with Jamaica which we are not aware of.
It is likely that we will be asked to return for a further meeting after we hear back from the Government and the Cross-Party Group.
This initiative is just what we have been looking for! We are the Scottish Country Dance Society of Jamaica. The Society has been happily dancing on Tuesday nights for over 50 years. We are a small group with big ideas and would greatly appreciate support from Scotland. There is a Scottish band (Andrew Mill Band) coming to Jamaica for a week from April 26th 2016 with a series of 4 events planned, called our ‘Ceilidh Weekend’. We are working in collaboration with the Caledonian Society of Jamaica. We are looking sponsors.