News have come in of the passing of Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, OM.

Prof as many would say was a true statesman and Jamaican through and through wherever he is. He was like an uncle, father and friend to the Jamaica Diaspora Movement and he will surely be missed

Professor Nettleford died at 8:00pm Tuesday 2 February at the George Washington University Intensive Care Unit in the United States where he was being treated since Wednesday, January 27, 2010 for catastrophic brain injury following a cardiac arrest.

Team FFBJ, Members and those in the UK Overseas Jamaican Community send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

PLEASE SEE A STATEMENT FROM Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Honourable Olivia Grange, MP Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture

Grange hails cultural icon Nettleford

Kingston, February 2, 2010 - Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Honourable Olivia Grange, MP has issued this statement following the passing of Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, OM.

Minister Grange said:

?I wish to express my profound regret at the passing of one of Jamaica?s most distinguished sons, Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, OM, Professor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies.

Professor Nettleford was the Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO, which I chair. His contribution to the Commission and the larger international UNESCO community was immeasurable and the Commission benefited from his vast knowledge and wealth of experience.

A man of great intellect and enduring vision, Nettleford?s love for his country and the Caribbean was well known. He dedicated his life to the promotion of Caribbean culture and identity. For him, the Caribbean civilisation needed to be heralded to the world. For this purpose, in the very year of our Independence he established the now world-famous National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica and sought in all his creations to promote what he always referred to as the ?ancestral pedigree? of the Jamaican people.

A supreme choreographer/dancer, Nettleford was the Caribbean?s cultural icon who will be deeply missed by the culture and arts fraternity across the world.?

Professor Nettleford died at 8:00pm today (Tuesday) at the George Washington University Intensive Care Unit in the United States where he was being treated since Wednesday, January 27, 2010 for catastrophic brain injury following a cardiac arrest.

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