WHILE it won’t be officially honoured, public / private sector partnership (PPP) will be the real star at Wednesday’s Carlton Alexander Awards, say organisers.

Finance Minister Peter Phillips and businessman Stafford Burrowes will be the honorees at the annual ceremony to be held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The recognition of the two leaders, from the public and private sectors respectively, will be a platform from which a light will shine on the critical need for PPP in Jamaica, said Christopher Williams, president of the Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association the hosts of the function.

“It is timely and indicative that the award named after one of the country’s greatest ever public and private partnership relationship builders, Carlton Alexander, is this year being presented to two individuals that represent the height of the public and private sectors,” said Williams.

“We are paying respect to these two gentlemen and also continuing to foster the partnerships which are critical for the country to not just deal with the challenges that are being confronted now but rise and flourish in the future,” he said.

Phillips is being recognised for his decades of commitment to public service in Jamaica while Burrowes will be honoured for his contributions to the tourism sector.

The Carlton Alexander Awards was established in 1990 by the JC Old Boys’ Association, as a tribute to the memory of Carlton Alexander for his contribution to JC and the wider society. It is presented annually to two old boys who have exemplified leadership, achievement and status in their chosen fields.

A high-ranking member of the People’s National Party, Phillips has held several ministerial roles in Government over the last two decades. Before his current role as Minister of Finance, he served as Minister of National Security for six years up to 2007. He was minister of transport and works from 1998 to October 2001 and was minister of health from 1995 to 1997. Between 1994 and 1995, Phillips was minister in charge of special projects in the Office of the Prime Minister and from 1993 to 1994 was minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister.

Burrowes is chairman and CEO of marine attraction Dolphin Cove. With its dolphins, sharks, stingrays, and other exotic life forms housed in facilities spread across 1,700 feet of beachfront and lagoons, Dolphin Cove lures over 250,000 visitors per year and is Jamaica’s second most popular tourist attraction — after Dunn’s River Falls.