PM Leads House Tribute to Roger Clarke

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, on Tuesday, September 9, led fellow Members of Parliament in a tribute to the late Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, during the sitting of the House of Representatives.

Mrs. Simpson Miller noted that Mr. Clarke distinguished himself as an outstanding parliamentarian, a representative of the people, who was sincere and humble, a Minister of Government par excellence, and a “one of a kind” politician.

She noted further that his contributions to the House were always informative, insightful and ground breaking.

“We remember the life and service of an important pillar of the Government of Jamaica. His selfless service to the people reminds me that Roger never asked what his country could do for him. Roger was always eager to know what he could do for Jamaica and for the Jamaican people,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said.

The Prime Minister noted that Mr. Clarke was trained in management and brought his immense theoretical knowledge and unrivalled practical understanding to the art of governance and his chosen vocation of representational politics.

“As Roger smiles down on us today, I would want him to know that our sorrow is inconsolable and our pain is eased marginally with each passing day, only by those great, lasting, warm, wonderful and beautiful memories of him,” she stated.

For his part, Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Holness noted that Mr. Clarke was a “most affable politician”.

“We could always look to him for the injection of humour when things got a little heated in the House. He had a sense of calming, of endearment, that even when things looked like it will descend into trading blows, Roger just had this uncanny knack to find the humour even in the angriest moment,” Mr. Holness said.

Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting described Mr. Clarke as “one of the sharpest intellects around,” who was in touch with the Jamaican culture.

He noted for example that “Roger would express himself, not by saying ‘cry tears’, but he would say ‘bawl eye watta’ … because he felt that the ‘bawling eye watta’ was so much more expressive and so much more in touch with the Jamaican culture.”

Opposition spokesman on Agriculture and Fisheries, J C Hutchinson, in his contribution, noted that Mr. Clarke was a personal friend and a “kind, caring and resourceful individual.”

The late Agriculture Minister died on August 28, 2014, while returning to the island from the United States, where he had gone for back surgery.

Jamaicans will have an opportunity to pay their respects on Thursday, September 11 and Friday, September 12, at three public viewings across the island.

On September 11, the body can be viewed at the People’s National Party (PNP) Headquarters, 89 Old Hope Road, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.; and on Friday (September 12), at the Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon; and the Mannings High School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

A wake will also be held on September 12 at Independence Park in Savanna-la-Mar.

The official funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 13 at the St. George’s Anglican Church, Savanna-la-Mar.  Interment will follow at a family plot in Glen Islay in Williamsfield.