From left) Entertainer Bunny Wailer; GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby and celebrated track coach Stephen Francis are among the Jamaicans who will receive national awards this year.
A total of 171 prominent or gallant Jamaicans are slated to receive national honour and awards come National Heroes Day in October, but with effect from today, Independence Day.
The list is headed by musician Neville O’Reilly Livingstone, popularly known as ‘Bunny Wailer’, who is to be awarded the Order of Merit (OM) for his contribution to popular music.
The lone surviving member of the celebrated group, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Bunny Wailer is a stand-out figure on both local and international reggae stages.
Down to receive the Order of Jamaica (OJ) are five other prominent Jamaicans, namely outstanding track and field coach, Stephen Francis; housing developer, Phillip Gore; businessman Tony Hart; academic, Professor Archibald McDonald; and former Cabinet minister, Ambassador Cliff Stone.
Francis is being honoured for his contribution to track and field through coaching; Gore for his contribution to housing development, business and philanthropy; Hart for his contribution to business, community development and humanitarianism; McDonald for excellence in academia and public service; and Stone for his contribution to public service.
Among the more prominent Jamaicans down to receive the Order of Distinction (OD) at the Commander Class are batting superstar and former West Indies Captain, Chris Gayle; Rev Dr Ronald Blair; business executive and sports administrator, Ian Forbes; Pharmacists Ellen Campbell-Grizzle; the Clerk of the Houses of Parliament, Heather Cooke; media magnate, Marcia Forbes; businessmen and executives Kevin Hendrickson, Paul Hoo, Don Wehby, Robert Russell and Clement ‘Jimmy’ Lawrence; Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Chairman, John Lynch; Dr Fritz Pinnock of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI); Police Commissioner George Quallo; Private Sector Association of Jamaica (PSOJ) President, Paul Scott; attorney George Soutar; and businessman and public administrator, Lyttleton ‘Tanny’ Shirley.
Those down to receive the Order of Distinction (OD) at the Officer Class include racehorse jockey, George HoSang; actor Carl Bradshaw; along with music industry figures, Copeland Forbes and Clyde McKenzie.
