Lieutenant Colonel Denston Smalling, Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) chaplain, leads the members of the JDF carrying the casket bearingthe body of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga to a waiting hearse as his widow, children and members of Government, who were amongthose in the receiving line, look on yesterday at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. (Photo: Michael Gordon)

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BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com

June 3, 2019

Seaga’s home

Sombre mood at NMIA as body of former PM repatriated to Jamaica

THE body of the country’s fifth prime minister, Edward Phillip George Seaga, landed on Jamaican soil yesterday evening for his final lap in the land he cherished and called home for his 89 years.

The body, which arrived aboard a Caribbean Airlines flight, touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston at approximately 6:07 pm yesterday, where it was received by his family members and government officials.

The former prime minister died at a hospital in the United States on his birthday, May 28, after a battle with cancer.

The former Member of Parliament for Kingston Western is to be accorded a state funeral.

A deeply saddened Culture Minister Olivia Grange, who was among a large contingent of Jamaica Labour Party officials, told the members of the media that an announcement is to be made today about the activities leading up to Seaga’s funeral.

But yesterday, as the aircraft carrying the late former prime minister’s body landed on the tarmac, some of the relatives and close friends of the prolific statesman huddled together in grief while others cried openly.

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A short while after, the coffin bearing Seaga’s body was removed from the cargo section of the aeroplane, on which his widow Carla and daughter Gabrielle were also passengers.

As the Jamaican flag-draped casket was hoisted onto the shoulders of members of the Jamaica Defence Force who also formed a Guard of Honour and taken to a waiting hearse, the tears from Seaga’s friends and relatives continued to flow.

While the body was being carried to the hearse, Seaga’s wife and daughter, Gabrielle, as well as his other children, Andrew, Chistopher and Anabella, who were standing in a receiving line, all tried to maintain their composure. However, it was clear from their body language that they were struggling to contain their grief.

Next to them was a sombre-looking Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was among a slew of JLP stalwarts, including Members of Parliament and government ministers such as Mike Henry, Pearnel Charles, Nigel Clarke, Delroy Chuck, Desmond McKenzie, Fayval Williams, and Audley Shaw.

Opposition Leader Peter Phillips, and Fitz Jackson, the Opposition spokesperson on national security, were also present.

In the meantime, Grange who was a very close friend of the former prime minister, said: “I cannot express in words, but it’s a very sad day, especially for the people of west Kingston.

“He was misunderstood by a lot of Jamaicans, but those of us who knew him well know how genuine and real he was; and even to the end, he was there for us. So it’s a sad day for me, for the people of west Kingston, and for Jamaica,” she said. “We will never find anyone, ever, like Edward Phillip George Seaga.”

As for Seaga’s immediate family, she said they are going through immense grief at this time.

Among the privileged few who were on hand to witness the arrival of Seaga’s body was Brian Cameron, president of Spiritual Christian Revivalist Council of Churches.

Cameron said he had to attend and show his respect on behalf of the people of the Revivalist faith, as Seaga was the only politician who had embraced that aspect of the Jamaican culture.

“When the Jamaica Council of Churches did not accept our application to be a part of the council I went to visit Seaga in his office at the university (UWI) and he told me to form our own council and gave me his blessing and so, for that very reason, I had to be here today,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The late politician and sports enthusiast, who was the last surviving framer of Jamaica’s Constitution, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and taken to Jamaica at age six months by his father, Phillip George, a Lebanese/Jamaican, and mother Erna Maxwell.

At 29, After successfully attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from Harvard University, Seaga returned to Jamaica and was, at age 29, appointed to the Legislative Council (renamed the Senate in 1962) as an Opposition member in 1959. His appointment made him the youngest member ever.

Shortly after being appointed senator he moved into the Kingston Western constituency, which he ruled, politically, for 43 years, until his retirement from elective politics in 2005.

In 1974, he took over the helm of the JLP due to the failing health of the party’s founder and leader Sir Alexander Bustamante. Six years later he became the country’s fifth prime minister after the JLP won the bloody 1980 General Election, which resulted in the deaths of more than 800 people.

Seaga remains the longest-serving Member of Parliament, with 10 consecutive election victories.

His Cabinet appointments include minister of development and welfare from 1962 to 1967, and minister of finance and planning following the death of Sir Donald Burns Sangster in 1967. During his tenure as prime minister, from 1980 to 1989, he again served as minister of finance.

Following his retirement from active politics, he remained in the public arena, and, on January 18, 2005, was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, whose Research Institute had earlier been named in his honour.

In 2008, he was appointed pro-chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica, and two years later, he became the institution’s second chancellor after his predecessor, Lord Morris Handsworth, retired.

The former prime minister can be credited with being associated with the formation or development of several national institutions, among them the HEART Trust/National Training Agency, the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaica Unit Trust, Export-Import Bank, Jamaica Promotions Ltd, the Agricultural Credit Bank, the Jamaica Mortgage Bank, the National Development Bank, Urban Development Corporation, Kingston Waterfront, The Golden Age Homes for the elderly, among others.

One of his cherished infrastructural developments, though, was the Tivoli Gardens housing project — a major transformation of the then Back-O-Wall settlement in west Kingston that thousands called home.

The recipient of several local, regional and international awards, including Jamaica’s second highest, the Order of the Nation in 2002, Seaga also received five honorary degrees from United States universities.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (left) speaking with Opposition Leader Dr PeterPhillips at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston yesterday.

Carla Seaga (left), widow of the late former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, clutchestheir daughter, Gabrielle’s hand, as they make their way to a waiting motor car afterthe arrival of the casket bearing the former prime minister’s body. Seaga’s otherthree children, (from right) Anabella, Andrew and Christopher follow closely behindyesterday at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

Members of the Jamaica Defence Force carry the Jamaicanflag-draped casket bearing the body of the late Edward Seaga toa waiting hearse at the Norman Manley International Airport inKingston yesterday. (Photos: Michael Gordon)