211 GRADUATE FROM CARIBBEAN MARITIME INSTITUTE

Mrs. Elsa-May Binns, Senior Director, Policy Planning and Evaluation, MTW, delivering Minister Pickersgill's message at the CMI's graduation.

Two hundred and eleven graduates successfully completed their various courses of study and graduated from the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) on Thursday, September 29, 2005.

The ceremony was particularly significant as the CMI was celebrating its 25th anniversary. The graduation ceremony was also part of the World Maritime Week activities which was observed under the theme, “International Shipping, Carrier of World Trade”.

In bringing greetings to the graduating class, Minister Robert Pickersgill whose message was read by Mrs. Elsa-May Binns, Senior Director, Policy Planning and Evaluation in the Ministry, lauded the Institute for its continued service to the region. He said, “The CMI since its inception in 1980 has been providing yeoman service to the Jamaican maritime landscape…the Institute has been providing training opportunities and facilities for many persons not only in Jamaica but to the wider Caribbean as well.”

A section of the graduating class at the CMI graduation.

The Minister also highlighted the Institution’s role in regionalism, noting the fact that since 1998, the Institute had been playing its part in the thrust for Caribbean integration by being recognised by CARICOM as the ‘preferred organisation for regional maritime education and training’.

And for his part, Guest Speaker Mr. Donald Foster, Chief Technical Director of the HEART Trust NTA exhorted the graduates to adopt a spirit of thankfulness and to become agents of change.

He asked them to use their sense of social awareness gained at the CMI to empower them in making a worthwhile contribution to whatever field they found themselves in. He noted that the partnership between the HEART TRUST/NTA and CMI had been a fruitful one and that ‘Brand Jamaica’ had been enhanced by this partnership.

Lt. Commander Michael Rodriquez gave the Executive Director’s Report.