Allison Moore, Jamaica's first woman Customs commissioner, dies at 82

Jamaica is mourning Allison Moore, the country's first woman to serve as commissioner of customs, who died on Sunday at the age of 82 after a period of illness.

Moore headed the Jamaica Customs Agency from 1992 to 2004, closing a 41-year public-service career marked by professionalism, integrity and quiet resolve. Colleagues, government officials and members of the business community widely regarded her as a steady leader who worked to strengthen the island's customs administration.

Acting chief executive and Customs commissioner Kirk Benjamin called her a nation builder and the driving force behind the modernisation now underway at the agency. "And she was the one who started the modernization thrust that we are on today," Benjamin said. Later commissioners built on that work, he added, but she laid the foundation for the organisation as it stands. Offering condolences to her daughter Dion and the wider family, he said: "Your mother was a nation builder. She did well in her turn at the wicket, and her legacy lives on today."

Benjamin also recalled that Moore recognised his potential for operational leadership — a judgment that came full circle when he rose to acting CEO and commissioner some 24 years later.

Her daughter, Dion Forbes, remembered her as a quiet giant whose strength showed in steady leadership and kindness rather than loud words. Forbes said her mother's humility and selfless spirit will be what those closest to her hold onto most.

In 2016 the Jamaica Customs Agency honoured that contribution by naming the Allison Moore multipurpose room at Customs House in Kingston after her — the only space at the agency that carries a former commissioner's name. The Jamaican government also awarded her the Order of Distinction in the Commander Class for her service.

Moore is survived by her daughter, siblings, other relatives and friends. Funeral arrangements are to be announced.