STATEMENT TO PARLIAMENT
BY THE PRIME MINISTER
HON. BRUCE GOLDING
ON THE
RETIREMENT OF
THE MOST HONOURABLE PROFESSOR SIR KENNETH HALL AND APPOINTMENT OF DR. PATRICK ALLEN AS GOVERNOR-GENERAL



I formally advise the House and the nation that the Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Honourable Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, O.N., G.C.M.G., O.J., will retire from office on February 26th 2009. Sir Kenneth had advised me in July of last year of his desire, for health reasons, to demit office in October. He subsequently agreed to continue until February 2009. His request to proceed on retirement was conveyed to and has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.

I wish to express to Sir Kenneth on behalf of the government and people of Jamaica our appreciation for the sterling manner in which he has served as our Governor-General since his appointment on February 15th 2006. He has performed his duties with diligence, dignity, charm, impartiality and understanding and has been a credit to the highest office in our land. We extend to him and Lady Hall our love and best wishes.

I wish further to advise that consequent on Sir Kenneth?s decision to retire, Her Majesty, on the advice of the Cabinet, has approved the appointment of Dr. Patrick Linton Allen, C.D., President of the West Indies Union of Seventh Day Adventists, as the new Governor-General.
Dr. Allen will be sworn in at Kings House on February 26th 2009.

January 13th 2009


BIOGRAPHY OF DR. PATRICK LINTON ALLEN C.D.

Dr. Patrick Linton Allen was born on February 7th 1951 in the farming community of Fruitful Vale, Portland, the fourth of five children of Ferdinand Allen and his wife, Christina (nee Grant).

He attended the Fruitful Vale All-Age School and, after successfully completing his GCE examinations in 1968 by private study, he joined the staff of the school as a pre-trained teacher at the age of 17. Two years later, he enrolled in the Moneague Teacher? College. Following his graduation, he taught at the Water Valley All-Age School in St.
Mary for three years before being appointed Principal of the Robins Bay Primary School in St. Mary in 1976. In 1978 he became Principal of the Hillside Primary School in St. Mary which had an enrolment four times the size of Robins Bay All-Age School.

A devout Adventist, Dr. Allen felt the urge from as early as age 11 to serve God as a full-time pastor, a call which he had consistently resisted as he pursued his teaching career. In 1980 he found that he could no longer resist this calling and he entered Andrews University in Michigan where he attained a Bachelor?s degree in History and Religion before pursuing a Master?s degree in Systematic Theology.

Dr. Allen returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was assigned as a pastoral intern to various churches in Spanish Town and May Pen. He was formally ordained as a Seventh Day Adventist pastor in 1989.

Following his ordination, Dr. Allen served as pastor of the Spanish Town Seventh Day Adventist Church, the largest church in the Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. He was later appointed Education and Communications Director of the Central Jamaica Conference and subsequently served as Director of Education and Family Life of the West Indies Union of Seventh Day Adventists based in Mandeville.

In 1996 Dr. Allen returned to Andrews University to read for his Doctorate and in 1998 he was awarded the Ph.D degree in Education Administration and Supervision. During that period he worked as Assistant Registrar of Andrews University. Upon his return to Jamaica in 1998, he was elected President of the Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists with responsibility for the parishes of St.
Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Mary and St. Ann. In 2000, he was elected President of the West Indies Union of Seventh Day Adventists with overall responsibility for the Seventh Day Adventist churches and related organizations in Jamaica, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. He was re-elected President in 2005.

Dr. Allen is Chairman of the Board of Governors of Northern Caribbean University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of:
(a) Andrews Memorial Hospital
(b) Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(c) Book and Nutrition Centre Ltd.
(d) West Indies Union Investment Management Ltd.
He oversees the network of Adventist-administered educational institutions in Jamaica which comprise 10 high schools, 22 primary schools and numerous basic schools. He also serves as a member of the Police Civilian Oversight Authority, the Strategic Review Implementation Oversight Committee for the Jamaica Constabulary Force and is a former Director of the Public Broadcasting Corporation.

He was made a Commander of the Order of Distinction in 2006.

Dr. Allen has been married for 33 years and he and his wife, Denise Patricia (nee Beckford), are the proud parents of three children, Kurt and Candice who reside in Michigan and Atlanta respectively, and David who resides in Jamaica. They have three grandchildren.

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