PRO vice-chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Professor Archibald McDonald, said yesterday that Prime Minister Andrew Holness will be inducted into the Prime Minister’s Park on the university’s Mona Campus this year.

He was speaking at yesterday’s ceremony to induct visiting Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley into the park, which is used to honour past students who have gone on to serve as heads of government.

Holness, a past student of the university, is serving in his second term as PM, having also served at the helm of the country for just over two months — from October 23, 2011 to January 5, 2012.

McDonald, in describing Holness as a “most distinguished prime minister” and “a distinguished graduate of the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies” said he is looking forward to “hosting another ceremony before the end of this calendar year”.

Seventeen heads of governments’ names have been added to the monument at the park, with Rowley being the most recent.

Rowley, the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, earned his first degree at the Mona Campus in geology and geography before completing a master’s degree in volcanic stratigraphy at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago. He later obtained a doctorate in geology.

Professor McDonald, in his opening remarks, said Rowley was being celebrated for his enormous achievements.

He said the university was honoured to recognise the T&T prime minister as a former graduate who has created a platform for building community, adding that Rowley’s induction into the park illustrates to students that they can achieve and go on to influence the region.

Rowley, who is in the island at the invitation of Prime Minister Holness, said the induction was “surprisingly special” to him.

“[The] UWI is a star in the crown of the Caribbean nation,” he said.

— Kimone Francis