Commentary

We do not know whom we should congratulate, the shadowy Mr Glendon Harrison, who is formally listed as the president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), or Senator Norman Grant, the immediate past president, who, from all appearances, still runs the show.

Their relationship appears a lot like the former Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is now prime minister, and Dmitry Medvedev, the ex-prime minister who, ostensibly, is now the president. Putin still holds the power.

It is all so confusing.

Anyway, the JAS is to be congratulated for the broad participation and big crowd support at last weekend's Denbigh Agricultural Show. That was the achievement.

However, it is a shame that, with 58 years of trying, the JAS could not mount a better-structured and more carefully organised event that would provide greater value to exhibitors and audience. In a fairground the size of Denbigh, it did not have to seem a Babel.

It is a shame, too, that the Denbigh ground has been allowed to deteriorate into this gritty, garbage-strewn, unkempt environment - all the elements of urban decay.

But then, what ought we to expect of the JAS? Look at its approach to leadership!

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