PRESS RELEASE

Friday, May 31, 2019

G2K REMEMBERS FORMER PM EDWARD SEAGA AS A VISIONARY

Generation 2000 (G2K) the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party mourns the loss of a national treasure and true visionary; former Prime Minster and Jamaica Labour Party Leader the Most Hon. Edward Phillip George Seaga, who made his transition on his 89th birthday, May 28, 2019.

G2K President, Mr. Stephen Edwards, described Mr. Seaga as the archetype of a visionary leader. “Edward Seaga’s imprint on Jamaica is unparalleled, he was a giant among leaders and our nation stands stronger, and our people further uplifted, because of the tremendous sacrificial service of this iconic nation builder.”

“His legacy through the many institutions and programmes he pioneered across virtually every sector of modern Jamaican, as well as the instrumental role he played in moulding many contemporary Jamaican leaders, will immortalize him as one of our region’s finest sons, and I feel truly honoured to have lived in his lifetime,” said Edwards.

Meanwhile, G2K Vice-President, Ryan Strachan, hailed Mr. Seaga as “the foremost of Jamaica’s builders.” Strachan further stated that Mr Seaga’s contribution to Jamaica spans numerous areas including sports, culture, religion and welfare. “His oversight of economic growth in the 1980s is the talk of legends and the creation of the Jamaica Stock Exchange redounds to the benefit of a multitude of stakeholders.”

“His focus on national development positively impacted hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans, and continues to yield far-reaching results in the lives of the current generation and indeed will continue to do so for many generations to come. The mark of a great man can be found in those he inspired, it is therefore quite fitting that the current Party Leader and Prime Minister of Jamaica (among many others) credit him as being their political father. Success is not complete without a successor and we can rightly say his success was complete,” stated Strachan.

G2K Legal Advisor, Andre Marriott-Blake, remembers Mr. Seaga as among the most consequential and enduring public servants of this hemisphere over the last century. “In so many ways he has served as the potter of this great nation. As one of the crafters of our Constitution and as a chief champion of our Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, he sought to safeguard and preserve the inalienable dignity to which we are entitled by virtue of our humanity. He had an abiding faith in our people, a sincere desire to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots, and a zeal for social upliftment. We will miss him dearly, but as a generation we will honour his legacy by continuing to champion the cause of a prosperous Jamaica with equal rights and justice for all,” said Marriott-Blake.

Generation 2000 expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Seaga, his Jamaica Labour Party family and the wider Jamaica. Long live his legacy.