Jamaica's Prime Minister travels to US to visit Seaga

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Andrew Holness left Jamaica for Miami to visit ailing former prime minister Edward Seaga in hospital.

In a brief message posted on his Twitter account, Holness said that on his return to the island he would “update” the nation on the health of Seaga, 88, who is in a Miami hospital for treatment of an undisclosed ailment.

Last week, Seaga’s wife, Carla, in a statement, said that she wanted to thank everyone “for their love and prayers’; for husband, Jamaica’s fifth prime minister, who also served as the leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) from 1974 to 2005 when he retired from active politics.

Media reports had said that Seaga, who served as prime minister from 1980-89 and became ill while travelling overseas.

Since his retirement from politics he has been an honorary distinguished fellow at the professorial level at The University of the West Indies, and also serves as chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica.