New Custos for St Catherine installed

Businesswoman and community volunteer Icylin M. Golding is the new Custos of St Catherine.

Governor-General Patrick Allen conducted the installation at a ceremony held Tuesday at the National Police College of Jamaica in Twickenham Park in the parish.

Speaking at the ceremony, Allen said the new Custos has been very involved in the life of communities across the parish and is “well placed to provide leadership.

“To inspire and instill a strong sense of direction for the population” of over 500,000 persons, he said, adding that the Custos will be “integrally involved” in programmes at the parish level, where youth can be engaged for a “new and better Jamaica.”

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport  Olivia Grange, who represented Prime Minister Andrew Holness, said Mrs Golding had an “early baptism” in the business of working with people through her community involvement, and is expected to do well in her new role.

“Our Custos has experiences through her work at the grassroots level, from selling farm produce along with her deceased parents, to serving at the St Dorothy's People's Co-Operative Bank. She has knowledge of many things that affect people in their quest for development and prosperity,” Grange told her audience.

In her wide-ranging reply, the Custos said the position “engenders endless possibilities” for continuity, renewal and engagement, for partnership with community leaders and Justices of the Peace (JPs) for the “development of the parish.

“This opportunity will certainly allow me to engage the people even more in their communities, in order to rise better equipped to play our part in dealing with emerging crises, pandemics, domestic and gender violence, youth engagement and other issues. If we play our part well, we can make the difference,” Golding said.

Golding received her secondary education at the St Catherine High School, after which she went on to the Jamaica School of Commerce where she did secretarial studies.

From there, she worked as secretary to the then Custos of St Catherine  Ivan Vaz, before moving on to the National People's Co-Operative Bank of Jamaica, and later to Master Blend, a subsidiary of Jamaica Broilers Group.

She now operates her own family businesses.

- JIS News 

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