![\"Jamaica](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0df8f035-9458-4cb4-8d3a-fceae00f2d92_fitted.jpeg\" "\\"Jamaica")
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Jamaica Consul General Roderick Oliver Mair ends his tenure in Miami and heads to New York to serve the largest Jamaica diaspora community in the world.<\/p>\n
Consulate General of Jamaica<\/p>\n
South Florida\u2019s vast Caribbean diaspora knows that consuls general come and go. But for one community, the departure of a beloved government representative has been bittersweet.<\/p>\n
Roderick Oliver Mair, who served as Jamaica\u2019s consul general for Florida and a dozen other states, is leaving South Florida for New York, where he will represent the largest Jamaica diaspora in the world, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness when he congratulated the diplomat on his promotion.<\/p>\n
Before Mair\u2019s scheduled departure on Wednesday, members of the community celebrated his move with a show of gratitude while describing him as an unusually accessible and responsive diplomat who won crowds over with his singing and unabashed love of country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to wish you the best going forward, sir, and like the great Super Cat would say, \u2018We love you like cooked food,\u2019\u201d Roger Lewis, co-founder of the Grammy-award winning group Inner Circle said to cheers from the room and laughter from Mair during a final farewell on Monday at the group\u2019s recording studio in the North Miami area. \u201cThank you ,sir, muchas gracias.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a man of the people,\u201d added Lewis, who with his brother Ian noted that while Mair had received a key to the city everywhere he went, they were giving him a Key to the Circle House.<\/p>\n
Mair spent nearly eight years as consul general in Miami, overseeing 13 states including Georgia. In his new appointment, he will have responsibility for nearly three times that number \u2014 33 states, along with Bermuda and Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not leaving, we\u2019re just extending the borders,\u201d he joked, telling the crowd that with his new assignment he will become the first consul general to serve in both Florida and New York, \u201cthe largest Jamaica diaspora region in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
He jokingly described the fete at Circle House Studios as his \u201ctenth farewell, a record farewell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I am told that some of the crew are going to meet me at the airport for another farewell,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other goodbyes included gatherings by the Jamaica Association of Central Florida; Jamaican Women of Florida; Jamaican Men of Florida; Andrea Service and Friends, and Island Spice restaurant. His leadership was also lauded in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Among those at Monday\u2019s farewell were reggae star Mr. Vegas, Trinidadian singer The Mad Stuntman (\u201cI Like to Move it\u201d), Copeland Forbes, manager of revolutionary reggae icon Peter Tosh, and City of Miramar Vice Mayor Carson \u201cEddy\u201d Edwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had an open door,\u201d said Ian Hamilton, a longtime media consultant in South Florida. \u201cHe allowed any and everyone to reach out and have their concerns heard. Definitely a community person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mair \u201cchanged the nature of what a consul general looks like, feels like, thinks like,\u201d he added. \u201cHe was definitely a true advocate for Jamaica.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mair did this through the establishment of a Hi 5K run and weekly call-in talks with the community, and with his leadership after Jamaica was devastated last year by Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n
Edwards, the Miramar city council member, highlighted Mair\u2019s Hi 5K run Foundation run, which raises money each May in South Florida to Adopt-a-Clinic in Jamaica. The effort, Edwards said, has led to the adoption of six clinics. \u201cHe\u2019s going to New York but the Jamaica HI 5 Foundation is here,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n
During relief efforts for Hurricane Melissa vistims, Mair became a force behind the \u201cStay Strong\u201d benefit concert at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood<\/a>. The sold-out event, organized with Inner Circle and others, raised $400,000 and featured a line-up of reggae and dancehall luminaries as well as Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica foreign and trade minister.<\/p>\n Mari noted that he didn\u2019t have a clue on what to do when organizing the concert, but with Inner Circle\u2019s support they were able to pull off the mega concert within a month and a half.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is fitting I should have my final, final, last farewell here at my home at Inner Circle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In announcing Mair\u2019s new assignment, Holness saluted his representation of the island-nation, saying he had \u201cserved Jamaica well\u201d during his seven and a half years as consul general.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spoke about the important role our overseas missions play in looking after Jamaicans, especially in times of need,\u201d Holness said in a post on X. \u201cDuring COVID-19, for example, the Miami team worked with the Jamaican community to support more than 2,500 Jamaicans who were stranded and needed food, healthcare and assistance to return home.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish Oliver every success as he takes on this new responsibility,\u201d the prime minister added. \u201cI know he will continue to put the welfare of Jamaicans overseas at the center of his work and represent Jamaica with dedication.\u201c<\/p>\n