Jamaica Observer column published 3
June 2019
by Jean Lowrie-Chin
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| Former Prime Minister of Jamaica Most Hon Edward Seaga with his wife Carla and PM Most Hon Andrew Holness. - Jamaica Observer photo |
The achievements of
Jamaica’s late Prime Minister Edward Phillip George Seaga, are a clarion call
to all Jamaicans to focus our energy on nation building. He certainly did his
best, establishing institutions to protect our democracy, preserve our culture,
develop our financial capabilities, and provide wider educational
opportunities.
It was when we toured an
area called ‘Frog City’ in 2004 that I realised the vision of Edward Seaga’s
creation of Tivoli Gardens. There we were, walking carefully through winding
passages bordered by ragged zinc fences, and inspecting a ‘study area’, an old
school desk with a rusting chair surrounded by yet more zinc. Thank goodness,
last year, Mr Seaga’s mentee Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a housing
development for that area.
Mr Seaga named the West
Kingston community after the Italian town Tivoli Gardens, telegraphing his
dream for a beautiful and productive settlement. We should remember that Mr
Seaga wanted peace for the citizens of West Kingston, even giving the police a
list of persons whom he deemed to be troublemakers in the community, a very
brave thing to do when we consider the names on that list!
And so last Tuesday
evening, the citizens of Tivoli Gardens gathered to celebrate the life of a man
‘who put a roof over my head’, in the words of an elderly citizen. Even after
he retired from active politics, Mr Seaga promoted the Tivoli Gardens Football
Club, raising funds by renting billboard space and hiring coaches that would
develop a formidable and disciplined team of players.
Most moving for me were
the reactions of two Members of Parliament to the passing of Mr Seaga: Minister
Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and Minister Desmond McKenzie. It is in the deep mourning of the bereaved
that we feel the care they experienced from their loved one. Minister Grange’s voice broke as she
addressed the House on Tuesday: “He was the kindest, most caring and most
brilliant man I have ever known and I loved him dearly … he taught me to dine
with kings and walk with beggars and to give respect to receive respect … Mr
Seaga loved Jamaica and our people. He understood the value of our culture and
way of life in a way that few people do… we have become a cultural powerhouse
because of Mr Seaga’s vision and service.”
Minister McKenzie broke
down in tears, and I recall his account some years ago of the kindnesses Mr
Seaga showed him. He said as a child,
the first ice cream cone he had was given to him by Edward Seaga – what a sweet
memory. Many of the hits he plays on his popular programme ‘The Mayor’s
Parlour’ were created through Mr Seaga’s music production company West Indies
Records Ltd, later sold to Byron Lee who renamed it Dynamic Sounds.
His creation of the
Jamaica Festival Commission, later the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission
offered tens of thousands of Jamaicans a start through Festival competitions in
music, culinary arts, literature, dance and drama. He was a strong supporter of
the work of Jamaica’s brilliant musical folklorist the late Olive Lewin, a close
family friend.
We were reminded by
Senator Robert Morgan on social media, that it was Mr Seaga who saved Devon
House from being sold to real estate developers. Thanks to Edward Seaga, the
mansion built by Jamaica’s first Black millionaire was spared and is a
recreational refuge for Jamaicans of all walks of life.
Mr Seaga selected talent,
not based on political bias but on objective achievement. Barbara Blake
Hannah wrote in the Observer last week about the man who appointed her as an Independent
Senator for four years, knowing that she had also worked in the Michael Manley
administration. She said Minister Grange had told her she was considered by Mr
Seaga “because I took the bus”.
“I was,
like most people, in awe of Seaga,” she noted. “But I liked him, first and
foremost, because I am a Garveyite and he was not only the man who brought
Marcus Garvey's remains back to Jamaica and buried them with honour, but also
because he led the declaration of Garvey as Jamaica's first national hero.”
Merrick Needham recalls
that day in London in the eighties when then Prime Minister Edward Seaga sent
for him while he worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat and asked that he
return to Jamaica because the country needed him. Merrick did, and what a
programme he rolled out for the Protocol division of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and for conference and logistics planners including former JNA and
Finance Ministry powerhouse Vilma McDonald, the Observer’s Novia McDonald Whyte
and CARICOM’s Marcia Ormsby.
We have to thank Observer
Editor Desmond Allen for his interview with two of Mr Seaga’s sisters, Mrs Jean
Anderson and the late Mrs Fay Tortello. It
is from this interview that we learn about this close-knit family who were proud
of their eldest sibling, Edward who after graduating from Harvard returned to
Jamaica. By 1959, Desmond Allen noted, “Edward Seaga was getting famous. He was
lecturing at the University of the West Indies extra-mural department and
writing many letters to The Gleaner on public issues, while
deepening his social studies by living in Buxton Town, St Catherine, where he
isolated himself from his family for six months.”
Jean Anderson noted that
Mr Seaga caught the eye of the leaders of both the JLP and the PNP: “Both Sir Alexander
Bustamante, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and Norman Manley, leader
of the People's National Party (PNP), invited him to join their parties,
Anderson relates. Although he was more like Manley in personality, she says, he
chose the charismatic Busta who had taken a liking to him. With that, the age
of innocence had come to an end. All that had gone before would pale in
comparison to the high-stakes games of power politics which had now been
irrevocably engaged.”
Jean Anderson’s home in Mandeville
“became the staging point for Eddie's political activities when he visited
central Jamaica.” Jean recalled the time
leading up to his victory in the 1962 elections: “They used my house like a
hotel. Eddie was always on the phone, arranging things.”
Mr
Seaga was a member of the seniors’ organisation, CCRP; here are excerpts from our
tribute: “[He]
personified our motto ‘Life to the Fullest … the late Prime Minister remained
actively involved in public life long after he retired from politics in 2005.
He continued to contribute positively to national development in several areas,
including academia, cultural life and sports.
“Our
thoughts are especially with Mr. Seaga’s sister, Mrs. Jean Seaga Anderson, a
sponsor of our organization ... The poor and elderly Jamaicans are indebted to
Mr. Seaga. Among the social programmes he established, Mr. Seaga launched the
Golden Age Movement in the 1960s. The first Golden Age Home was built in 1985,
as a modern home for seniors.”
We
extend deep condolences to Mr Seaga’s widow, Mrs Carla Seaga, his children
Christopher, Andrew, Anabella and Gabrielle, other family members and loved
ones. The best tribute we can pay to this tireless patriot is to continue
building on his legacy to create the Jamaica of his dreams.
