DESMOND Blades, the iconic Barbados-born businessman who made Jamaica his home and etched his name in the annals of local private sector history, will today receive the nation’s fourth highest honour – the Order of Jamaica (OJ).

Blades, 80, has been battling colon cancer for the past three years but seems to be on the mend and is expected at King’s House in Kingston for today’s ceremony in honour of his extraordinary contribution to Jamaica’s development.

Last night, the businessman’s wife of 60 years, Peggy Blades, was excited on the news of the national honour.

“I’m absolutely elated.I am my husband’s greatest fan,” she told the Observer. “He should have received the honour last year but the colon cancer he was diagnosed with in 2006 returned two years later and as a result he underwent four months of aggressive chemotherapy,” said Mrs Blades.

She was equally excited to bring news that “he has broken the cancer now and though it has left him weak, he is slowly regaining his strength and has chaired a few Seprod and Mussons meetings and has ventured out on our boat”.

She said immediate family members would be on hand to witness the presentation of the national award to her husband by the governor-general, Dr Patrick Allen.

Blades, who has had a long career in business, made a significant contribution to the Jamaican economy, especially in the areas of food processing and food distribution. He is best known for his contribution to business with the success of Facey Commodity and the Seprod Group of Companies – both of which he is chairman.

“Blades is also highly regarded as a volunteer worker, lending his expertise in several areas of national life,” said Jamaica House, in a press release advising of today’s presentation of the OJ.

Among the organisations which Blades served were the Bureau of Standards Jamaica, as a council member; the National Food and Nutrition Co-ordinating Committee, patron; United Way of Jamaica, chairman; Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), director; the JCC’s Tourism and Environment Committee, chairman; and the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club, commodore.

He has also served on the boards of several committees, including that of the Kingston Restoration Committee and the Century Club of the University of the West Indies.

Blades, who was born in Barbados, migrated to Jamaica in 1961 and got his first job as a clerk at the Royal Bank of Canada in Barbados, working mainly as a cashier.

He was then recruited by S P Musson Son & Company Limited to take over their Trinidad operation which he joined as manager in March 1955.

S P Musson Son & Company Limited also had an operation in Jamaica which was very unprofitable and the board asked him to come to Jamaica to determine why its operation here was unprofitable.

“I spent a week in Jamaica, wrote a report, identified the problems and the inevitable happened. I was told if you can fix it go and fix it,” the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce’s online newsletter quoted Blades.

He said that he was very happy to move to Jamaica – a much bigger market which appeared at that time to have a much greater potential than Trinidad.

“On the break-up of the Federation, we formed Musson (Jamaica) Limited and I was given the opportunity to purchase 25 per cent of the shares. In addition, I was granted certain share options which I exercised as soon as these became available. In the meantime, I developed a wholesale provision business which was concentrated mainly on bulk items, like flour, rice, corned beef and similar products.

During the era of the 1960s, Jamaica was very keen on expanding its manufacturing base and I felt that this provided many golden opportunities,” he said in the article.

Musson has since grown into one of Jamaica’s most successful businesses.

In June 2000, Facey was acquired by Seprod Ltd and Musson Jamaica Ltd – two of the largest and most successful manufacturers and distributors in Jamaica.

At present, the company is one of Jamaica’s largest retail and distribution enterprises, offering a wide variety of goods and supplies through two divisions: merchandise and pharmaceutical.

Facey Commodity Company Ltd is composed of five divisions: Corporate, Merchandise, Pharmaceutical, Telecom, and ValuDrug.