HARTLEY “Bobby” Jones, the former People’s National Party (PNP) member of parliament who in the early 1990s gave up his South St Andrew seat to Finance Minister Omar Davies in order to give him a sure win at the polls, died on Saturday.

Up to press time, the cause of death could not be ascertained.

But in paying tribute to Jones yesterday, Prime Minister PJ Patterson remarked that he had provided “exemplary service in several areas of national and political life in Jamaica”.

He said Jones was also “integral to the transformation of the PNP into a modern political organisation” during the late 1960s.

Jones, a long-standing member of the party’s National Executive Council and Executive Committee, also served as Senator, minister of state and deputy chairman of the party.

After 1989, he served as minister of state in the utilities and education ministries. He also had responsibility for special projects in the ministry of finance and planning.

“As the elected representative for South St Andrew, minister of state, senator and in his duties as deputy chairman of the PNP for almost 20 years, his objective was always providing service of the highest calibre to his country and his fellow Jamaicans,” Patterson recalled.

In a statement to the press, the prime minister noted that Jones saw “political service as a direct and effective way of improving the lives of people he represented, as well as contributing to the building of his country.

“His service to his people and his country will never be forgotten,” Patterson added.

Victor Cummings, the Kingston Central member of parliament echoed similar sentiments.

“He was a very good member of parliament,” Cummings said, adding that Jones’ death was “a major loss to the country”. “He was always with his people and that was the important thing and he served his constituency well from what I know, especially local government.”

It was primarily because of Jones’ work in that tough South St Andrew community and the PNP’s ensuing popularity why the seat was singled out for Davies, who was about to make his debut into representational politics.

In November 1993, Jones resigned as member of parliament for the constituency to make way for Davies to win the seat, which was considered ‘safe’. The current finance minister won the seat in a by-election called on November 30, 1993.

Davies, former head of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), had taken charge of the ministry of finance following Hugh Small’s abrupt resignation in October 1993. But the constitution demanded that Davies be a member of the house of representatives in order to be officially appointed finance minister.

Prime Minister PJ Patterson held the substantive title of minister of finance in the interim until Davies was sworn in as MP and minister in December 1993.

In an interview with the Observer following the announcement of his resignation, Jones said:

“The government, the party, the prime minister were in a very awkward situation and somebody had to get them out of that.”

Added Jones: “To have given up the constituency took a lot of consideration. Dr Davies needed a safe seat, this is an extremely safe seat for him to be elected. People have it down as a garrison community and in some ways it might be, but we have changed a tremendous lot since I have been down here.”

Patterson accepted Jones’ resignation and subsequently named him Senator.

“Bobby volunteered to go upstairs (the upper house of parliament), he was not kicked upstairs, Omar volunteered to come downstairs (the lower house),” Patterson said at the time.

Jones stayed on as chairman of the South St Andrew constituency for some time and pledged his support for Davies, to ensure a smooth transition.

The sudden resignation of Hugh Small from the Finance Ministry in October 1993 came after reports of strained relations between that ministry and the central bank. Inside sources said the problems involved issues such as pay differentials (central bank staffers paid more), power and technical competence. There were also reports of embarrassing instances in which contradictory data was presented by those institutions to international agencies.