MEMBERS of the House of Representatives paid tribute to late former Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister, Dr Donald Keith (DK) Duncan, during the sitting held on Tuesday at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

Dr Duncan died on September 17 in hospital. He was 80 years old.

His political career spanned 45 years, beginning in the 1960s. He was appointed to the Cabinet as minister of national mobilisation and human resources in 1977.

He served as Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Central in the 1970s and later as MP for Hanover Eastern in 2007. He was a dentist.

In his tribute, Leader of Government Business Edmund Bartlett described Dr Duncan as a passionate politician.

Duncan, he said, served at a time when the ferment of nationalism raged, human rights issues were at the top of the agenda, civil rights movements were emerging and political and ideological battles were being fought all over the world.

“DK Duncan was centred in the midst of all of that in Jamaica and became a symbol of that sort of resistance,” he said.

Leader of Opposition Dr Peter Phillips, meanwhile, said that Dr Duncan was a fighter for social justice.

“He never changed his objective, which was to bring social justice and upliftment to the people of Jamaica,” he said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a press release on the day Dr Duncan died, said he was a “political force” who played a key role in shaping the politics of Jamaica during his time.

“He served his beloved country, and though we were on different sides of the political aisle, I respected his commitment to Jamaica,” Holness said.

“His passing marks the end of a long political career and contribution to the Jamaican society. We were both agreed on a fundamental matter, Jamaica first,” he noted, while expressing condolences to his family.

— JIS