FOR NEARLY four hours yesterday parliamentarians across the political divide rose and paid fitting public tribute to Edward Seaga for his more than 40 years of public service to Jamaica. This was an important gesture of farewell from the legislature which fashioned so much of his major contributions to national life.
Many of the nation's public servants who labour in the fields are often subject more to the harsh criticisms for failing to meet expectations and deliver on promises than appreciated for their work. Mr. Seaga has been an exemplary visionary who has demonstrated commitment to improving the social conditions of the Jamaican people whether he was at the helm of government or in Opposition.
As individual speakers acknowledged yesterday, he has been an important figure in institution-building in this country, and the nation's young people would have been helped considerably in getting a better understanding of this complex character who is often reduced to single-image caricature in public discourse.
Symbolically, too, yesterday, Mr. Seaga came full circle. In his reply to the many tributes paid to him, he used the metaphor of two Jamaicas the 'haves and the have-nots', which he first used in 1959 in the then Legislative Council. That speech brought him to public prominence and he used the same device to analyse the progress or lack thereof in areas of the country's life. His analysis will be debated for the finer points of interpretation but again demonstrated his firm grasp of the inter-connectedness of social conditions, education and economic advancement.
His broad outline of the areas of education, particularly at the early childhood stage, that need to be addressed, as well as recommendations for particular focus on the conditions of farmers and for a better appreciation of the contribution made to national development by people of poor and humble means, should be heeded.
In his four decades of service, he has been a principal architect of many institutions which have served this country well. His moving on to the areas of academic research at the University of the West Indies will still allow him to make his contributions to public life from a non-political setting.
The formal farewell from fellow parliamentarians after his closing speech at the end of the sitting showed a rare camaraderie devoid of political divisiveness. As he said at the very end he would now sing a sankey and go home. But that, for this distinguished public servant, is another phase of public service devoid of political involvement.
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