Jarrett: Denbigh has great tourism potential

EARL JARRETT, general manager of Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), said the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial & Food Show has the potential of becoming a major tourism attraction for Jamaica.

Jarrett made the remarks during his visit to the 59th annual staging of the Denbigh Show, held Saturday, July 30, to August, 1 at the Denbigh showground in Clarendon.

"It is a large agricultural show, and I expect it will grow even more," said Jarrett. "This is a great opportunity for Jamaicans overseas, and for other visitors, to come and experience Jamaica's agricultural offerings."

Some 65,000 patrons from across the island attended the show last year and the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) projected that the show would attract between 80,000 and 90,000 people this year. However, the JAS is still collecting the numbers.

Jarrett underscored Jamaica National's commitment to agriculture and to Denbigh, for which it has been a title sponsor. "We are now at our third year with Denbigh as a major sponsor, and it has been a useful and meaningful experience for us," he revealed.

"We have used the opportunity at Denbigh to showcase to the Jamaican community, at large, our range of services both from home lending, to our savings and investments options, insurances, technology services as well as our automobile association," he added.

Support

Jarrett pointed out that JNBS has always placed strong emphasis on rural parishes and rural regeneration, as this is where the building society originated. With agriculture playing an integral role in rural life, the organisation saw the need to lend its support in this sector.

"As the lynchpin of several parish economies, we believe that it is important to invest time and resources in seeing how we can grow agriculture," he said.

This year, for the first time, JNBS also sponsored farmers, from the breadbasket parish of St Elizabeth, to sell their produce in the JN Farmers' Market at the JN Pavilion.

He pointed out that JNBS had redefined its participation in the annual event to use its pavilion to partner with other entities. "We want everyone to feel welcome and to find something of value," Jarrett said.