~ Assamba going to London ~
KINGSTON, Jamaica--Career diplomat Alison Stone Roofe has been appointment Jamaica's first ambassador to Brazil, signalling a deepening of relations within the hemisphere.
The Jamaica Government also announced Tuesday that former People's National Party (PNP) parliamentarian and Cabinet minister Aloun N'Dombet-Assamba will be the country's next high commissioner to London.
Brazil, the largest South American country, is a member of what is globally accepted as the group of emerging economies including Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The announcement of the appointment was made yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade AJ Nicholson. She is expected to assume her ambassadorial duties by April.
Stone Roofe, who is currently the director of the Caribbean and Americans (C&A) Department in the ministry, has over 20 years working experience in the ministry and serves as a member of the Caricom (Caribbean Community) Inter-Governmental Task Force on the review of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and a member of the Caricom-appointed Evaluation Committee overseeing the reconstruction of the Caricom Secretariat. She is also a part-time lecturer of international relations at the University of the West Indies.
Prior to her current role as director of the C&A Department, the ambassador designate was deputy director of the Foreign Trade Department and Private Sector Liaison for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.
"The opening up of a mission in the capital Brasilia is part of the strategic vision of the ministry in a bid to encourage trade and investment opportunities and strengthen Jamaica's advocacy in the global arena," the ministry said Tuesday.
Assamba will replace former Senator Anthony Johnson, who took up the post in London in 2010 after being transferred from Washington, DC, by the then Bruce Golding Administration to make way for Audrey Marks.
Tuesday, when the Observer sought to find out from Assamba when she would begin her tour of duty, she said "not until about April".
"I have not absorbed it yet. I am now thinking of all the adjustments I will have to make to go there," she said.
Assamba won the St Ann South East constituency for the PNP in the 2002 general election, but left representational politics before the 2007 poll.
She was replaced by Lisa Hanna, who has won the seat in the last two general elections.
Before entering politics as a senator, Assamba, an attorney, made a name for herself as a sagacious businesswoman during her tenure as general manager of the City of Kingston Co-operative Credit Union.
She was appointed minister of tourism, entertainment and culture in the PJ Patterson-led Government in October 2002, and before that served as junior minister in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Technology.
Assamba also gained public attention during her tenures as acting chairman of the Fair Trading Commission, deputy chairman of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission and as a mediator and trainer for the Dispute Resolution Foundation of Jamaica. (From Jamaica Observer stories)
