Edward Seaga to open life's journey to public scrutiny

Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga is today scheduled to hand over his collection of documents amassed during more than 50 years in public life to the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

Seaga is expected to present the documents, in the presence of other former prime ministers of Jamaica from both sides of the political divide, to E. Nigel Harris, vice chancellor of the UWI.

Seaga told The Gleaner that it has been recommended that his collection, particularly in relation to his years as prime minister during the politically ideological period of the 1980s, could be included in the database of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

If the recommendation is accepted, Seaga's presentation should advance UNESCO's agenda by contributing to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights, along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.

Seaga estimates that, all told, in excess of one million documents will be turned over to the UWI, which will enable Jamaicans to access them.

"I am the first one (prime minister) to do that in Jamaica as a former prime minister," he said.

He added: "The idea is to have the data contained in 250 boxes, and we have scanned every piece of paper and placed in a special mother computer system."

Said Seaga: "The originals have been indexed and turned over for use in the UWI Library. Persons can, therefore, retrieve it from the library and rerun it after use."