THE Government is moving to have May 20 designated annually as Eventide Memorial Day to honour the memory of the more than 150 people, mainly women, who died in a fire at the facility in 1980.

The fire occurred while Jamaica was in the grip of what has been the bloodiest general election campaign in the country’s history that claimed close to 900 lives according to the official police statistics.

At the time the two main political parties accused each other of starting the fire which was widely believed to be the work of arsonists.

Making his contribution to the 2025/25 Sectoral Debate on Wednesday, Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie argued that the tragedy should be commemorated, “Not only as a mark of public atonement, but also as a reminder that we must always as a society strive to prevent our vulnerable citizens from suffering indignity or untimely death”.

He noted that it is now 45 years since the tragic incident and suggested that some people would rather forget that it happened, especially since it involved the poor.

“Over 145 people died in that controversial fire, the origins of which have not been officially determined to this day. Though a National Day of Mourning was declared shortly after the incident, and the remains of the victims were interred in a single grave at National Heroes’ Park, there has never been an official day to mark this incident in our modern history,” said McKenzie.

“As part of the contribution of the local government system to the enhancement of civic education in our country, I wish to announce that…the governor general will be petitioned to officially designate the 20th of May as Eventide Memorial Day,” added McKenzie.

The minister pointed out that only the 1957 train crash in Kendal, Manchester, commonly referred to as ‘Kendal Crash’ — when close to 200 people died while returning from a church excursion to Montego Bay, St James — was a worst tragedy than the Eventide Home fire in terms of numbers who died.