REMARKS BY THE HON. FRED MITCHELL
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

 DINNER IN HONOUR OF THE HON. K.D. KNIGHT
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN TRADE OF JAMAICA

March 24, 2006  

I am pleased this evening to welcome all colleague foreign ministers of Caricom to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas along with the Secretary General and the Minister of National Security of Jamaica.  I hope that you think of The Bahamas as home. I know all of you are welcome to our country, and I trust that you will enjoy your brief stay with us. 

I would like especially to welcome our colleague and friend K.D. Knight, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and foreign trade of Jamaica in whose honour we are gathered here this evening.  This is his first visit to The Bahamas as foreign minister.  He was unable by reason of illness to be able to join us last year in Freeport for the annual meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). 

It is good that he is able to attend and he is as fit as a fiddle. 

We are gathered here on the eve of an important conference with the representative of the Government of the United States, but I thought that this would be an ideal opportunity to salute our colleague who has made such a valuable contribution to the development of relations around the world with the Caricom region during his tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica.  He has been an invaluable voice for change, a tireless fighter for the region, and a valued confidant and advisor to us all on matters of foreign affairs and foreign trade.  

This is especially important as in his home country momentous changes are taking place; an era is coming to an end in Jamaican politics and a new era is beginning for Jamaica and the region.

In particular, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. K.D. Knight for his help and that of his Prime Minister and country to The Bahamas on so many occasions over the time that I have served as foreign minister of The Bahamas. I told our officials at a meeting last week that on so many occasions over these past few years, Jamaica’s leaders have been available to assist our country in one way or another.  On behalf of our Prime Minister and the Government I wish to say thanks. 

In the last week, this was amply demonstrated with the departure of two Cuban dentists that were the source of public debate in our country.   And this is not the first time, as early as 1980 when the HMBS Flamingo was sunk; Jamaica was instrumental in smoothing the way for the settlement of that issue.  

And so let me welcome Minister Knight.  Thank him again for his assistance to our country, for his stellar service to this region and wish him well and every success in the future.

End

March 20, 2006  

Jamaican Foreign Minister K.D. Kinight inspects a glass junkanoo doll presented to him by Bahamain Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell during a dinner hosted 20th March, 2006 by Minister Mitchell in Minister Knight's honour. Minister Mitchell looks on after having presented the gift to his colleague.