JAS facing tough times as COVID bites

The cancellation of the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show for the second consecutive year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the likelihood that it might not be held next year, has pushed the organiser, the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), into a financial bind.

The popular show, which usually runs for three days in Denbigh, Clarendon, over the Independence weekend, is the major income source for the JAS, with other shows in St Mary, St James, Trelawny, Kingston and St Andrew and other parishes also being key money earners for the various association of branch societies.

Now, as the JAS faces the axe from the Government, which is moving to cut the apron strings, the organisation, which was formed in 1895, is facing an uncertain future.

With an annual profit of between $20 million and $25 million from the Denbigh Show, as well as the build-up from the parish shows, plus the government injection of between $6 million and $10 million, as well as inflows from non-agricultural entities like financial institutions no longer coming in, the JAS is facing its greatest survival challenge.

“We are suffering significantly from a cash flow deficit right now,” JAS President Lenworth Fulton candidly admitted to The Gleaner.

“At present, the Government is paying the JAS roughly $100 million a year to assist in the running of their organisation, but in another two years, they will have to stand on their own,” Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, J.C. Hutchinson, told The Gleaner in 2019.

Now, with that timeline fast approaching, Fulton admitted that discussions are far advanced and the issue is out the hands of the JAS. The Government has made two submissions to the JAS board, with a final one anticipated by November.

“They were talking about financial year 2022-2023, so I don’t know if there is any revision,” he disclosed.

Meanwhile, other income streams have also dried up.

“The income that we used to earn from Denbigh ground, such as using it as a bus park for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company and renting the ground for various things, all of that has been affected.”

Drive-in theatre

It is not all gloom and doom, however, as the JAS is awaiting a detailed proposal from a company which wants to operate a drive-in theatre on the grounds of the property.

“There is an enquiry from an investor and we are responding positively to them, but they are to send us a detailed proposal, which we have not had in our hands as yet. Then we would have to identify the area of the ground that they would use, and to see that that would not affect our shows and other activities when we resume full operations,” Fulton disclosed.

“The whole Denbigh is 52 acres of land and we use just about 20 for the show. Plus, we are deep in discussion with the Jamaica Defence Force to build a temporary barracks at Denbigh. We have identified the area for that already, but we are to conclude negotiations, and this is in support of helping to fight the crime situation in the country,” he further said.

Another major casualty of the pandemic is the presidential elections, with Fulton’s term of office having ended in July.

“Elections should have been July, but because of COVID and the cash flow problems it’s delayed. So at our last board meeting, we proposed some dates, one of which is October 13, so [hopefully] we can get the audit done in time and find the money to run those elections. If not, we will consider another early date to have the elections. We want to have it, but there are impediments.”

The annual Farm Queen Competition has also been on hold since 2019.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com