They waited for hours at the burial site – the National Heroes’ Park – to get a whiff of the aroma that would become synonymous with the send-off of their revered Edward Phillip George Seaga.

From the start of the State funeral for Jamaica’s fifth prime minister at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, at high noon, those who loved him till death do them part came well prepared for the antics that would inevitably follow.

Almost everything had a touch of green as mourners milled around awaiting the ceremonies. Limited vending was allowed at the location, but one sticking point for some was the number of barriers erected to prevent non-accredited people from getting near the graveside – located in a straight line across from the grave of Seaga’s close friend, Bishop Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds, who died on February 24, 1989, and a shade away from that of culture icon Louise Bennett-Coverley, or “Miss Lou” as she was better known, who departed on June 26, 2006.

On the opposite side was the shrine of the man Seaga succeeded as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1974, Hugh Lawson Shearer.

“Dem shouldn’t block off the place. The people dem shoulda able fi walk come in,” one said in reference to the restricted area.

“Mr Seaga woulda never like fi know say dem no allow the people fi get close to him, because him was a people person,” said another.

By time the two-hour-and-40-minute service was about to be wrapped up, more walked up to the barriers, despite knowing that the estimated time of the procession walking from the cathedral to the park was around 35 minutes.

“The boss a come ya now,” one shouted as the coffin exited the church, carred by soldiers of the Jamaica Defence Force.

Police and army personnel at National Heroes’ Park took up their positions. A language that only soldiers were meant to understand dominated for a few minutes: “Hi, hey, hey, up, forward march, at ease” could have been some of the words coming from a commanding officer. Other words shouted sounded like a Korean dialect.

The attention, in the meantime, switched back to the large television screen that kept spectators at the company for over three hours. The main camera focused on a close-up shot of Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips, which elicited reaction from one Labourite: “Gwaan yaa, Peter, me a support you. No mek Bunting get you out, we waa win the next election,” the woman shouted as the camera again switched to the procession. She was referring to the upcoming People’s National Party presidential race between incumbent Dr Phillips and Peter Bunting.

The bell, a symbol of the JLP, started ringing. Then, there was this huge explosion – the first of the 19-round gun salute reverberated around the park.

“Yow, mi General, a wa a gwaan over deh so,” one man shouted, as the crowd eventually realised what was happening.

The second round soon went off. “Ahoa, ahoa, ahoa,” said another man. “Dat soun’ like me kill 40 a dem.”

‘Boom’, went the third round: “Ahoa…no, no, me no like da one deh, dat too low. Come again,” the same man shouted. The excitement rose again at the release of the fourth round: “Yeeeees, a so mi say. Da one deh a really shot. We waa 40 more like dat. A bare people me a kill roun deh so,” he continued.

Yet another in the group sounded a more sober note: “A one thing me know…Seaga get the whole a dem fi walk now…PNP, JLP, it look like a walkathon dis,” the woman shouted, as she looked up at the big screen showing mourners heading up to the park which serves as a burial site for national public figures.