Culture Minister Open to Monument Honouring Jimmy Cliff

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, says she would support the mounting of a statue in honour of international Reggae icon, Dr. the Hon. James “Jimmy Cliff” Chambers.

The Government recently honoured the Grammy awardee and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee by renaming Gloucester Avenue in Montego Bay, St. James, Jimmy Cliff Boulevard. The corridor is popularly called the ‘Hip Strip’.

An official renaming ceremony was held on the vibrant thoroughfare on March 28, where the famed reggae musician and actor was in attendance, along with Government Ministers, family and friends.

Speaking with JIS News at the event, Ms. Grange said a monument of Jimmy Cliff can serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration to future generations.

“We must have monuments, so that future generations can recognise and look at those… as inspirations. It would be fitting and most appropriate,” she said.

“I would like to see a statue of Jimmy Cliff in Montego Bay, in the heart of the city. We have commissioned and mounted statues of our athletes… [and] we started, in treating with our culture, [by mounting] a statue of Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley… so there will be many more statues,” she added.

The Minister pointed out that signage bearing Jimmy Cliff’s image have been erected at both ends of the Hip Strip, adding that “there will be other things that we will be doing to honour [him]”.

In September of 2018, the Government unveiled of a life-size bronze statue in honour of Jamaica’s late cultural icon, Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as ‘Miss Lou’, in Gordon Town Square, St. Andrew.