Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami, Oliver Mair has been appointed to serve as the Dean of the Caribbean Consular Corps in South Florida.

Since his appointment as consul general in October 2018, Mair has fully embraced the community, engaging in a record-breaking number of events in an effort to strengthen the diaspora connection of Jamaicans across the 13 Southern States under his jurisdiction. 

Along with Florida, these include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolinas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

In making the announcement of Mair’s appointment, Ambassador Gilbert Boustany, consul general of Antigua and Barbuda, and Dean of the Consular Corps of Miami, said he proudly recognised Mair as the first Dean of the Caribbean Consular in over seven years.  He added that Mair’s inspirational, engaging, and dynamic leadership has been well recognised across the diaspora community.

Mair looking forward to serve

Stepping into his new role, Mair said he was looking forward to serving with his counterparts in areas of mutual interest to benefit the Caribbean region and the United States. Some of these include disaster awareness and preparedness, improving trade and commerce, tourism, transportation, health, and education.

The Jamaican consul general has received several awards for his outstanding and creative leadership qualities from local and regional bodies including the US Senate Congressional Award for the Diaspora and Global Community. He was also acknowledged Man of the Year 2020, recognition he shared jointly with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley (Woman of the Year 2020), by the Caribbean National Weekly, a leading South Florida newspaper and online media platform.

Along with that of his Caribbean counterparts, Mairs’ emphasis on community engagement is evident in the various outreach activities in which the Caribbean Consular Corps were able to provide assistance in areas affected by natural disasters including hurricanes in Belize, The Bahamas, and the volcano in St Vincent.

Regarding the Jamaican diaspora, Mair continues to engage nationals in projects to benefit the Jamaican economy as well as the local communities in the Southern USA. These include outreach activities and highlighting investment opportunities in Jamaica in the area of tourism, agriculture and real estate.

Through various fundraising initiatives, the Jamaican Consulate continues to work closely with charitable organizations including alumni associations generating much need resources to Jamaica especially in the areas of health, education, and culture.

Work of Caribbean Consular Corps

The Consular Corps was also instrumental in leadership as they rose to providing assistance to their Caribbean nationals at home and locally, who were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.  During the pandemic, the Corps was able to acquire large shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the region.  

These included containers of masks/shields and sanitisers for personal and industrial use. The Jamaican Consulate General is one of several Florida based Consulates under which the fraternity of the Caribbean Consular Corps was established.

The Florida Consular Corps is the third largest diplomatic corps in the US, with over 80 countries. The South Florida based Caribbean group consists of several countries including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.