Stately ladies (from left) Myriam Portocarero, departing Nigerian High Commissioner Olufolajimi Akintola and Kiran Agrawal, wife of the Indian High Commissioner. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Three members of the local Diplomatic Corps received an official farewell from their colleagues on Thursday.

Hosted by Belgian Ambassador Herman Portocarero athis residence in upper St. Andrew, the event celebrated the end of posting for Nigerian High Commissioner, Chief Olufolajimi Akintola, and Indian High Commissioner Shri Kailash Agrawal, plus the retirement of former dean of the Diplomatic Corps Cedric Harper, who is also High Commissioner for St. Kitts and Nevis.

New dean of the Corps, Brazilian Ambassador Cezar Amaral, was officiating one of his first duties since taking up the post. Speaking of High Commissioner Akintola, he lauded her hard work and dedication. He praised Agrawal as an experienced and talented diplomat who successfully brought India and Jamaica closer. He found it difficult to find words to describe the man he is succeeding as dean. He said High Commissioner Harper was an example of dedication, competence and generosity, and that he would try his best to replace him.

The trio expressed gratitude to their colleagues for the assistance during their postings and to the local Foreign Ministry for its support. High Commissioner Akintola said she felt a strong professional and personal relationship with her diplomatic colleagues, and said she felt very blessed to have been here. Agrawal said the two years and five months that he and his wife spent here was the best period of their diplomatic careers. He said he felt that the local corps met so often, it was as if they were friends rather than just colleagues. Harper, always the philosophical one, thanked his colleagues for giving him the chance to serve. In parting he quipped, “Deans don’t die, they just lose their members.”

Guests

New dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Brazilian Ambassador Cezar Amaral (left), hugs his predecessor, St. Kitts High Commissioner Cedric Harper. Harper was one of the three outgoing High Commissioners who were fêted at a farewell reception at Millsborough Crescent last Thursday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Guests included Japanese Ambassador Masahiro Obata and wife Hiroko, Canadian High Commissioner Denis Kingsley, Panamanian Ambassador Ricardo Moreno, Deputy British High Commissioner Paul Nicolopulo and wife Kareen, Dominican Republic Ambassador Filomena Navarro, Mexican Ambassador Leonora Rueda, French Ambassador Francis Hurtut, Chilean Ambassador Alfonso Silva, Argentine Ambassador Jose Pino, former Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister K.D. Knight, Ambassador Maxine Roberts and sister Valerie Roberts, Carlton and Claudette Stephen, and Honorary Consul to Thailand Thalia Lyn.