KINGSTON, Jamaica – Professor Donald Jasper Harris, the father of United States’ vice president, Kamala Harris, will be conferred with the Order of Merit (OM), Jamaica’s third-highest honour, during the National Honours and Awards ceremony that will be held on October 18, which will be observed as National Heroes Day.

Harris is being recognised for his outstanding contributions to national development and heads a list of 144 Jamaicans who will be honoured as the country marks its 59

^th

 anniversary of independence from Britain.

The list of awardees is usually made public on Independence Day which is being observed on Friday and honours are handed out on Heroes Day.

Harris, who turns 83 on August 23, was born in Brown’s Town in St Ann. The Jamaican-American is a well respected economist and professor emeritus at Stanford University and is known for applying post-Keynesian ideas to development economics on economic analysis and policy regarding the Jamaican economy. He has served the island nation at various times as economic policy consultant to the Jamaican Government and as economic adviser to successive prime ministers. Harris has also done work with other developing economies.

The honour of the OM may be conferred upon any citizen of Jamaica or distinguished citizen of another country (an honorary member) who has achieved eminent international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour. It is not conferred upon more than two persons in any one year.

Among the other distinguished Jamaicans who will be honoured this year, four will be conferred with the Order of Jamaica (OJ), the country’s fourth highest honour.

Veteran politicians, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Pearnel Charles Sr, who has served as a member of the Cabinet and as Speaker of the House of Representatives; and former Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips, who has represented the People’s National Party in senior positions within the party and the Cabinet; will be honoured with OJs for their outstanding contributions to public service.

Charles Sr retired from representational politics in March 2020 after nearly 50 years. He walked away after swearing in his son, Pearnel Charles Jr, shortly after the younger Charles won the Clarendon South East seat in a by-election. Charles Jr would be later joined by his sister, Dr Michele Charles who won the St Thomas Eastern seat in the September 2020 general election which the JLP won in a landslide.

True to his word, Phillips stepped down as Opposition leader and PNP president shortly after the general elections which his party lost to the JLP in a landslide. He has served the PNP for more than 30 years. He still retains his St Andrew East Central seat.

Meanwhile, three other politicians in the governing JLP will receive national honours this year. They are Speaker of the House of Representatives, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert; the Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams and the Minister of Transport and Mining, Robert Montague. They will receive the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.

The Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Dr Wayne Henry; Justices Carol Edwards and Nicole Foster Pusey; the Reverend Merrick ‘Al’ Miller; and Professor Anthony Harriott will also be conferred with the Order of Distinction, Commander class.