Businessman Garfield Green sworn in as new Custos for Manchester

Businessman Garfield Green sworn in as new Custos for Manchester

June 25, 2019 0 By Horace Mills

Businessman Garfield Green has been sworn in as the new Custos Rotulorum for Manchester.

He is replacing Sally Porteous who will demit office on July 1 after serving for seven years.

Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen presented Green with the Instrument of Office before a small gathering of relatives and friends during a brief ceremony at King’s House yesterday, June 24.

The core function of the Custos is to oversee activities in the parish that promote the rule of law, public order and also civic pride.

The Governor General said: “Mr Green [will be] responsible for recommending and swearing in Justices of the Peace (JPs) in the parish, and for supervising the execution of their legislative functions. He [will also] ensure that the Governor General is well represented on occasions when he is unavailable to attend functions within the parish.”

The Governor General encouraged Green to use the platform to engage young people and to grasp the vision of a better Jamaica.

“I encourage you to inspire them to make a contribution to national development and fulfil their God-given responsibilities,” he added.

The Governor General, in the meantime, said Porteous ‘sufficiently and effectively’ directed the affairs of the parish during her appointment.

He also expressed gratitude to Manchester Lay Magistrates Association President, Stanley Skeen, for acting as Custos while Porteous was out of office due to ill health. She was hospitalised in Miami for five weeks.

Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen (left) converses with newly appointed Custos Garfield Green, and outgoing Custos Sally Porteous following the swearing-in ceremony at King’s House. Mark Bell photos

Green, in the meantime, pledged that, during his tenure, he will ‘demonstrate the principles, the respect and integrity’ expected of him.

He promised to ensure adequate and reliable distribution of services provided by JPs, to heighten public education about the role and function of the Custos Rotulorum, to address ‘the notion of JP delinquencies’, and to deepen interactions with residents.


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