Dr. Richard L. Bernal gets Panmedia Salute for lifting Jamaica's profile

We give our 4th Panmedia Salute to Dr. Richard L. Bernal, who is currently the Alternate Executive Director of the Inter –American Development Bank. In his commencement speech at a graduation ceremony at Northern Caribbean University’s Mandeville campus recently, Dr. Bernal urged the powers that be to sell Jamaicans as a nation without borders.

That immediately doubles our numbers to six million, perhaps triple our per capita income, and significantly increases our talent pool. “The GNP of the Jamaican nation would make it a mid-sized developed country,” said Dr. Bernal, the country’s former Ambassador to the United States, who was picking up an honorary doctorate from NCC.

The implications are enormously tantalizing. Greater Jamaica would mean expanded leadership, a larger pool of solutions for the problems that plague us, and the ability to be heard in a world where size matters.

Panmedia salutes Dr. Bernal for giving context and currency to an idea that has till now livened verandah conversations and domino tables. His hard work in the service of Jamaica and his passion for progress needs to be applauded.