Tributes continue to pour in for the recently deceased former chairman of the Dominica Banana Producers Ltd (DAPEX), Luke Prevost, who died on July 30 at the age of 71. The former operations manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Corporation (DBMC) passed on after a battling cancer for some time.
Former general manager of the DBMC, Edison James, remembered the departed Prevost as a committed and hardworking man who took his job seriously. He said he grew up with Prevost in Marigot before fate would bring them together to work in the same corporation.
Former general manager of DAPEX, Errol Emmanuel, described Prevost who also happened to be the manager of the Antilles Cement Lumber Ltd as a dedicated man who would be remembered for his exemplary leadership. Emmanuel said the first time he met with Prevost was in 1982 when he went to the Dominica Grammar School for a job interview even though he graduated from the same school.
“Destiny would have it that after he left he would return as chairman at which time I was general manager, he was very knowledgeable and someone who was able to calm you in midst of a storm,” Emmanuel said. “He would push you to get the maximum not to anger you but to get the best out of you, a dedicated and family man who I regarded as my mentor.”
According to Emmanuel, Dominica owed generating over $100 million from banana export to the ingenuity and dedication of Prevost during his time at the corporation. Apart from exporting banana to the UK and other western countries, Prevost also tried to diversify the agricultural industry by exporting other cash crops overseas in order to enrich the country. Ultimately, Dominica was able to begin exporting more than 21 agricultural products overseas because of Prevost’s efforts, Emmanual said.
Luke Prevost was married to Jacqueline Lancaster Prevost, a reputable nutritionist, and he was also the brother of Norris Prevost, the former Member of Parliament representing Roseau Central constituency. The late agriculture administer died in his home in Castle Comfort on Thursday.
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