Farewell Tribute To Edward Seaga
The Most Honourable Edward Seaga, the Most Honourable Mrs. Seaga and the entire Seaga family, Honourable members, today marks a memorable day in the annals of Jamaica’s political history. It marks the end of a truly remarkable political career of a man who dedicated virtually his entire adult life in service to the people of Western Kingston and to the people of Jamaica.
As a boy, I began to admire Mr. Seaga, not so much for the signature dark glasses that he wore in the 1960s, although I did too, but for the genuine concern he expressed in words and deeds for the welfare of the people of Jamaica. From his sojourn at Buxton Town in the hills of St. Catherine to his famous Haves and Have-not speech in Parliament, to his transformation of what was then know as Back-O-Wall to a well manicured community featuring education, healthcare, sports and culture now known as Tivoli Gardens, to his landmark contributions to the nation building in culture, finance, education and economic development, in all his endeavours Mr. Seaga served with honour, with dignity and was guided by principles rather than personality.
Our guest of honour today, Mr. Seaga, is indeed a towering political visionary and icon of all time. Among his pace-setting and exhaustive list of achievements I must single out some highlights of his stewardship as Minister of Development and Welfare, Minister of Finance, Prime Minister of Jamaica and leader of the Opposition.
As Minister of Development and Welfare, Mr. Seaga launched the Jamaica Festival which flourished for several decades as the cultural benchmark for our independence celebrations. He launched the popular Festival Song Competition, which continues today. His interest and initiatives in his constituency and throughout the nation are by far among the most important contributions he could have made to this country. It shows a caring and dedication and the realization that culture plays a critical role in nation building and development and that a nation without cultural awareness is a nation in search of a past and therefore, one without an identifiable future.
He conceptualized and spearheaded the development of the Kingston Waterfront, Ocho Rios, Turtle beach, the Montego Bay Waterfront and Negril. As Minister of Finance and Planning between 1967 and 1972, Mr. Seaga teamed up with the late Most Honourable Hugh Lawson Shearer and produced economic growth rates in Jamaica never before seen and never seen since 1972. In this five-year period the average annual growth (GDP) grew by over nine percent, figures taken for granted at that time and are virtually unrecognizable today. In the 1980s a Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Planning, Mr. Seaga led Jamaica to economic recovery with missionary zeal.
I shall long cherish my own opportunity that I was given to serve in a capacity where I literally traveled to distant corners of the world promoting investment into Jamaica. I was always tremendously impressed at the amount of respect that he commanded on the international scene.
Mr. Seaga attracted the attention of the world’s most powerful country and became the first foreign leader to visit the then new President of the United States, President of the United States, which led the way to the establishment of the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the CBI, which gave special and unprecedented trade access to the United States by Caribbean States. The Jamaican economy was rebuilt during this period and enjoyed average annual growth of 5 percent in the latter part of the decade, peaking at 8 percent growth in 1987.
Both as Minister in the 1960s and as Prime Minister in the 1980s, Mr. Seaga spearheaded the establishment of a large number of cultural, educational and financial institutions which were catalysts for the development of people. He truly put people first. Among these were: Things Jamaican, the Festival Commission, the 100-Villages Programme, JNIP, which became JAMPRO, HEART, UDC mentioned earlier, the Jamaica Unit Trust, the Students’ Loan Fund, the Ex-im Bank, the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the Jamaica Development, the Agricultural Credit Bank, the National Development Bank, the decimalization of the Jamaican currency, which was done very, very smoothly in 1969, Metropolitan Parks and Markets and all the various parks and markets subsequently
followed, the School Feeding Programme for nutrition for our children, the Self-Start Fund, Solidarity, the Food Stamp Programme, the Programme for the Advancement of Early Childhood Education, PACE, Golden Age Homes and certainly the return of Marcus Garvey’s remains to Jamaica.
The late Professor Carl Stone best describes Mr. Seaga’s work in institution building this way. I quote:
“I don’t think there is any other leader in the Caribbean who has built so many institutions and made so many new beginnings with so many ideas in the sphere of public management. I have deep respect for Seaga.”
As Opposition Leader since 1989, Mr. Seaga’s storehouse of practical ideas and solutions was never-ending and remain as a blueprint for us to remain in this Chamber to continue the task of nation-building,. Included in this blueprint are detailed dissertations on vital issues of the day, including governance, justice, education and the economy.
It is said that man’s life is truly wasted if at the end of his day he has failed to pass on his experiences. This must not be the case with Mr. Seaga. Today, Mr. Seaga is closing one chapter which will allow many to follow in his footsteps, using his knowledge and experience for the betterment of our people.
His life and experiences are a platform. In launching yet another career, he prepares to open another series of windows of wisdom and enlightenment. It is my hope that in addition to assuming a chair at the University of the West Indies, which will include a compilation of his works to be placed at the UWI Library, the Government, the JLP, the University and corporate Jamaica will see it fit and necessary to establish a special library to be named the “Edward Phillip George Seaga Library”, so that his rich history and truly outstanding legacy of hard work and efficiency, spanning almost a Century, can be properly stored and passed on to this and succeeding generations.
In closing I quote from a comment made in 1985 by the then President of the Republic of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda he said of Mr. Seaga:
I have listened to you, Edward, I have great love and respect for you as a leading economist not in theory but in practice. Jamaica should be proud to have you as its Prime Minister.”
Mr. Seaga, our beloved Leader of our Party and leader of the Opposition, Jamaica loves you. We are proud to have had you as Member of Parliament, Minister of Government, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. May your life of service be an inspiration to all of us and may God endow you with long life and continued, yes, vim, vigour and vitality so that the country can continue to benefit from your considerable wisdom and experience. May God bless you and your family.
