ST JAMES, Jamaica— Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has hailed former Minister of State in the ministry Dr Henry ‘Marco’ Brown as “a tourism trailblazer, who helped to lay the foundations of the sector on which we continue to build.”

Bartlett, who expressed condolences to the family of the former state minister, added that “Marco was truly a committed family man and lover of life.”

“Marco served as Minister of State for Tourism throughout the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) two terms in the 1980s and played his part in building the tourism product with great care, especially water, sports and community tourism,” Bartlett said in a release.

Brown reportedly died on Thursday from COVID-related complications.

The tourism minister said that Dr Brown “made a significant contribution to the tourism industry and his insight and dynamism will be greatly missed.”

Meanwhile, Opposition spokesperson on Tourism, Janice Allen, who also expressed sadness at Dr Brown’s passing, said “he served the community and Montegonians in his own way”.

“A simple man, a simple doctor who made all of us feel special and at ease with whatever might have ailed us. His most welcoming smile and generous ways made the waiting lines long in his practice as he turned no one away,” Allen said.

“If we could have more Marco Browns, this city and this country would be a better place. A good and decent, humble human being,” she added.

Bartlett also lauded the former state minister for his work in the political arena.

“He had an indomitable will to fight for the people of Southern St James, as well as the then Central St James constituency, in which he served as a councillor under Dr Herbert Eldemire, who served as Minister of Health from 1962 to 1972,” Bartlett stated.