CARIBBEAN leaders -- past and present -- yesterday paid homage to Professor Rex Nettleford during a specially convened sitting of the House of Representatives at Gordon House in Kingston.

Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, in categorising the man he had known for more than 47 years as a "great Jamaican and a great friend", hailed Nettleford for being one who did not selfishly strive to uplift himself alone.

"He became a voice of the scorned and segregated," said Seaga, now a distinguished fellow at the University of the West Indies, a position which he took up on the invitation of Nettleford when he served as vice-chancellor. The former prime minister said Nettleford's contribution to the arts through his promotion of Jamaica's folk culture was monumental.

"The Honourable Rex Nettleford was a sublime creature of cultural forces. He shaped his persona as a Jamaican of excellence and a Caribbean man of integrated cultural dimensions. He gave his country entertainment spectacles and profound understanding; symbolically he charted a course that proclaimed the ability of not just the ordinary man but the ordinary black man to be an extraordinary man," he said.

Former Prime Minister P J Patterson, meanwhile, said the dreamer has made his exit but the dream must never die.

"The national outpouring of grief from people from all walks of life, the depth and breadth of tributes spoken and written demonstrate the quality of the exemplary contribution to his country, the region and the world to which this remarkable son of Jamaica dedicated his entire life," Patterson said.

Patterson, who inserted some amount of humour into his reflection on his personal encounters with Nettleford, said a powerful message had been left by him for Caribbean leaders.

"Rex Nettleford has proven that the building of a nation is not the prerogative of politicians alone; we remain indebted to him for the invaluable work he has done on a range of issues relating to governance, social cohesion and regional integration," Patterson said.

He added that the avalanche of tributes in the wake of Nettleford's death was generated by his "innate goodness as a human being".

And Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer said the Caribbean Community was poorer for Nettleford's absence. He said the Caribbean was eternally in Jamaica's debt for 'sharing' Nettleford with the region.

"We are grateful to him for being the conscience of the Caribbean. He belongs not only among the pantheon of Jamaica's heroes, but also among Caribbean heroes and should be so regarded," said Spencer.

Among those present in the chambers yesterday were Secretary General of the Caribbean Community Dr Edwin Carrington; Deputy Governor General of the Bahamas Sir Arthur Ffolkes; Former High Commissioner to London Burchell Whiteman; several senators; and other dignitaries.

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