Legacy of Late Former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga, Celebrated on 95th Birth Anniversary

Late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Edward Seaga, was celebrated for his pivotal role in building Jamaica, on the 95th anniversary of his birth.

Mr. Seaga’s life and work of took centre stage during a floral tribute and ceremony on Wednesday (May 28) at National Heroes Park in Kingston.

Among the participants were Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness; Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange; Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie; Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign and Regional Affairs, Dr. Angela Brown Burke, who represented Opposition Leader, Mark Golding; and Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Andrew Swaby.

Reflecting on Mr. Seaga’s legacy, Prime Minister Holness noted that he deeply believed in the power of government to serve the people and worked relentlessly, with discipline and precision, to transform that belief into reality.

“Born in 1930 and brought home to Jamaica just three months later, Edward Seaga’s life was one of total dedication to Jamaica. By age 22, he had already made a profound declaration of loyalty, renouncing his US citizenship in favour of full Jamaican identity,” Dr. Holness pointed out.

He noted that Mr. Seaga, who was trained in sociology and anthropology at Harvard University, used his knowledge to influence policies, programmes and institutions that have become part of Jamaica’s national architecture.

“The Jamaica Stock Exchange was one of the institutions built by Mr. Seaga in 1968. The Jamaica Mortgage Bank in 1972; the National Development Bank in 1981 (now the Development Bank of Jamaica {DBJ}); the Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (Ex-Im Bank) in 1986; JAMPRO (Jamaica Promotions Corporation) in 1987; the UDC (Urban Development Corporation), which developed the Kingston Waterfront, Ocho Rios [and] Negril, and the HEART Trust (now HEART/NSTA Trust) in 1982, training hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans. That is just a small part of his legacy,” Dr. Holness outlined.

“On the social side, the JCDC (Jamaica Cultural Development Commission), which is the promoter of our National Festival; the National Gallery; Things Jamaica, and Devon House [are] just some of the institutions that he has created, which define the architecture of Jamaica today,” he added.

The Prime Minister further praised Mr. Seaga as a transformational and courageous leader, noting he was “willing to confront many of our deeply held and deeply seated perspectives that really formed our limits”.

Dr. Holness pointed out that after World War II, a time of significant global upheaval, Mr. Seaga stood very strongly for freedom, liberal democracy, human rights and the respect of individual freedom.

“Were it not for the strength, were it not for the determination, were it not for the courage of Edward Seaga, Jamaica may have gone in a direction which, today, we now know that we would have lived to regret,” he said.

The Prime Minister declared that the floral tributes being made on Mr. Seaga’s birthday are not an act of mourning but, rather, “in affirmation of a life that continues to shape our own, of a legacy that calls us to build on what he began”.

Dr. Holness added that “the best way to honour Mr. Seaga is to carry his work forward, to protect our institutions, to invest in our people, and to dream with our eyes open”.

In her reflection, Minister Grange, highlighted Mr. Seaga’s contribution to the preservation of Jamaica’s cultural heritage.

“It was his creation of the Jamaica Festival Commission, what we now know as the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, that gave and is still giving thousands of Jamaicans their first exposure of talent to a national audience and their fellow Jamaicans the joy of seeing them perform,” she said.

“No other political leader has studied our culture more, embraced it more, or used the authority of his office to lift every aspect of Jamaican culture to official recognition and esteem,” Ms. Grange affirmed.

The Culture Minister emphasised that she is honoured and humbled to have been guided and taught by Mr. Seaga and to be the inheritor and current custodian of Jamaica’s culture, which includes his vast, rich and enduring legacy.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, Minister McKenzie, who is the Member of Parliament for Kingston Western, formerly represented by Mr. Seaga, said Jamaica’s fifth Prime Minister is one of the most outstanding political figures of the last 100 years.

“As a constituency, we continue to be grateful for the efforts that he made to make our lives better. We continue to cherish his memory; we will never let him down,” he affirmed.

Mr. Seaga served as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1989 and represented Kingston Western from 1962 to 2005.

He passed away on his 89th birthday on May 28, 2019.