Saunders and Neil K.D. KNIGHT, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, yesterday announced the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary in the ministry and several new ambassadorial postings, effective September 1.
Douglas Saunders is to be the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry. He is now Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community at Brussels and non-resident Ambassador to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, and South Africa. He will succeed Ambassador Stafford Neil as Permanent Secretary in early September.
Ambassador Neil will be taking up the post of Jamaica Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York. Ambassador Evadne Coye, Under-Secretary for Multi-lateral Affairs, is to succeed Ambassador Saunders.
Ambassador Gail Mathurin, who has responsibility for external trade negotiations, has been appointed Under-Secretary for Trade Affairs. She takes over from Ambassador Maxine Roberts, who will be Jamaica's new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and non-resident Ambassador to Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Mrs. Elinor Felix, Assistant Director of the Protocol and Consular Department, will succeed as Director Ambassador Madge Barrett, who will be retiring soon.
Ricardo Allicock, acting director of the Jamaicans Overseas Department at the Foreign Ministry, will succeed John Atkins next month as Consul-General to Florida and the Southern States of the United States. He will be based at the Jamaican Consulate in Miami.
Ambassador Saunders, a career diplomat, joined the Foreign Service in 1972 as an administrative cadet. He has served in various positions at Jamaican embassies. From 1992 to 1994 he was non-resident Ambassador to Cuba shortly after which he was posted to Brussels as Ambassador.
Ambassador Saunders holds a Master of Arts degree in Government and Politics, majoring in International Relations, from St. John's University, New York, where from 1980-81 he was a Pope Paul VI Scholar. He graduated from the University of the West Indies in 1972 with a B.Sc. degree in Management Studies. He also obtained a certificate in Diplomacy from Oxford University, England where he studied from 1974 to 1975.
