by Staff Writer
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jun. 4, CMC – The state funeral for former Prime Minister Edward Seaga is to be held on Sunday June 23.
The details of the funeral arrangements and related activities were revealed by Culture Minister Olivia Grange on Monday during a media briefing .
The funeral service will be held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the Corporate Area.
Grange added that the period of mourning has been declared and will be observed from June 19 to June 22.
“It means that government will not have any social activities; official activities that were scheduled will be postponed where possible; travel by government officials will be limited and the flag will be flown half-mast,” she said.
Ahead of the funeral, Seaga’s body will lie in state at several locations, however, the casket will remain closed at the request of the family.
Seaga’s remains will be interred at National Heroes’ Park.
The government is appealing to the public to also observe “a certain decorum during that period,” she said.
Seaga, Jamaica’s fifth prime minister, died at a Miami Hospital last week Tuesday, following a battle with cancer.
He died on his 89th birthday.
Seaga, who was prime minister, from 1980 to 1989, also served as the leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) from 1974 to 2005 when he retired from active politics.
Since his retirement from politics, he has been an honorary distinguished fellow at the professorial level at The University of the West Indies (UWI), and also served as chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica.
A lifelong sports enthusiast, Seaga was chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association, one of Jamaica’s governing football bodies, from its inception until 2010. He also served as president of the football club of his former West Kingston enclave, Tivoli Gardens.
Seaga is credited with building the financial and
