THE Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award has been conferred on two Jamaicans – Sir Bill Morris and Douglas Orane – by the Jamaican-American friendship Association (JAAFA) for what the association says is their outstanding contribution to human development and the Jamaican society.

The awards will be presented on March 18, at a banquet to be held at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge in Kingston.

According to Ken Jones, vice president of JAAFA, the award which was established in 1985 is given in alternate years to an American and a Jamaican who, by example of their life and work, exemplify the teachings of the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

“The recipients are people who have lived in accordance with the philosophy of King. This year we feel these two Jamaicans have done just that,” said Jones.

Sir Bill, who, although residing in England, is chancellor of the University of Technology (UTech), left Jamaica as a boy in 1954, growing to become the first black general secretary of Britain’s Transport and General workers’ Union in 1991.

The Queen knighted him in 2003 for his services to English institutions including the Bank of England, the commission for racial equality, the royal commission on the reform of the House of Lords and the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Sir Bill is also chancellor of the University of Staffordshire in England.

Orane, chairman and CEO of Grace Kennedy, joined the company in 1981 as corporate planner and has since gained prominence both for his work as a corporate executive and for his public service.

Orane gained national attention for his contribution to several topical issues including electoral reform. In 1998 he chaired a task force that produced the Orane Report, recommending ways to reduce waste in the public sector.

Orane also served as an independent senator for four-and-a-half years and currently gives voluntary service to programmes for inner- city residents.

Previous recipients of the award include former prime ministers Michael Manley and Edward Seaga and Lady Bustamante, wife of Sir Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica’s first prime minister.

Carl Alexander, the co-founder of Grace Kennedy, was also a recipient of the award, while American recipients include Nelson Rockefeller who received the award posthumously and Michael Sotirhos, former US ambassador to Jamaica.