HEROES DAY : Nation honours 257 Jamaicans for outstanding service

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Two hundred and fifty-seven Jamaicans received national honours and awards yesterday at the annual investiture and awards ceremony held on the laws of King's House in St Andrew.

This year’s Order of Jamaica recipients (from left), MVP
 Track Club boss Vincent Stephen Francis, for outstanding
 contribution to track and field through coaching

Eighty of those were from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Fire Brigade and the Department of Correctional Services.

Sister Mary Paschal Figueroa, OD
 receives the Order of Distinction

Famed musician Neville O'Reilly Livingstone, better known as “Bunny Wailer”, the only living member of the legendary Wailing Wailers band, headed the long list of distinguished honorees. He was conferred with the Order of Merit for his work in the field of popular music.

The Order of Merit is the country's third-highest honour and is conferred on citizens who have achieved “eminent international distinction” in their field of endeavour.

Five Jamaicans received the Order of Jamaica, the fourth-highest honour, among them world-renowned track and field coach Vincent Stephen Francis of MVP track club fame; University of the West Indies Principal Professor Archibald McDonald for excellence in academia and public service; Phillip Gore for outstanding service in business, community development and humanitarianism; Ambassador Clifton Stone for outstanding public service; and Anthony Hart, for outstanding service in business, community development and humanitarianism.

Trench Town hero Tremayne Brown 

Bunny Livingston Wailer,
Order of Merit

There were 44 appointees to the Order of Distinction (Commander class), from various areas of national life including Police Commissioner George Quallo for distinguished service to the Jamaica Constabulary Force; West Indies batsman Christopher Gayle; Heather Cooke, for service to the Houses of Parliament; Lyttleton Shirley for contribution to the public sector; Senator Don Wehby, group chief executive officer of GraceKennedy, for sterling contribution to the private and public sectors; Sylvester Tulloch, for contribution to housing development and the Mico Foundation; Supreme Ventures Chairman Paul Hoo, for outstanding contribution to the sporting industry; and Clifton Yap, for service in the field of architecture and construction. more