Prime Minister saddened by the death of Roger Clarke

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has expressed condolences to the family and friends of Roger Clarke.



Clarke died in Florida this morning from a suspected heart attack.



He was at an airport on his return to Jamaica.



The Office of the Prime Minister says Clarke has had a successful political career, having won eight elections comprising two Local Government and six General Elections.



In 1986 he was elected Councillor for the Balaclava division in St. Elizabeth, and was nominated Mayor of Black River and Chairman of the St. Elizabeth Parish

Council.



He was subsequently re-elected in the 1990 Local Government Election where he continued as Mayor.

Clarke also served a four year period as President of the Local Government Authorities from 1988 to 1991.



He went on to a bigger political stage in 1991 when he was elected Member of

Parliament for North East St. Elizabeth in a by-election.



Three months into the job, he was promoted in early 1992 to State Minister for Agriculture; a position he held for three years and by 1995 he was appointed Minister of Local Government and Works.



By 1998, he was back in familiar territory serving as Minister of Agriculture.



He served as Minister of Agriculture for some ten years and during that period was one of the founding members of the Alliance of Ministers of Agriculture for

CARICOM, and served as its chairman for many years.



On January 6, 2012, Mr. Clarke was re-appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.



He identified as his top priorities enhancing Jamaica’s food security, to make farming profitable and rural development as areas of particular interest.



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