KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Desmond McKenzie, has expressed shock and sadness at the passing of the councillor for the Islingston Division in St Mary, Lincoln Dixon.

Dixon died Thursday morning shortly after complaining of not feeling well. He died just days after burying his son Juhvan.

READ: PNP Councillor Lincoln Dixon has died

“I was shocked when I heard this news, especially after the recent passing of Councillor Dixon’s son. This unexpected event has left everyone stunned, from family and friends, to his colleagues in the St Mary Municipal Corporation and his political home, the People’s National Party (PNP),” McKenzie said in a statement.

He noted that Dixon “came to officially serve as the councillor for the Islington Division, following the Local Government Elections of 2012, and served its people and the local government system with dedication”.

“They rewarded him with the unprecedented distinction of voting for him to represent them in consecutive elections (he also won in 2016). No standard-bearer of any political party had ever won the Islington Division in back-to-back local government elections,” McKenzie pointed out.

He used what he described as Dixon’s untimely passing “to pay tribute to the elected servants of local government who we have lost more recently”.

McKenzie stated that Dixon made his mark in the relatively short time that he served as a councillor.