One of Jamaica's icons of culture and academia, Professor Rex Nettleford died on Tuesday, February 2, at the George Washington Hospital in Washington, DC – one week after suffering a heart attack at a Washington hotel, and a few hours before his 77th birthday.

Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and founder of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), went into a coma following the heart attack and was placed on life support, but never recovered.

The news of Nettleford’s death has been taken very hard in Jamaica, where in many areas he was a household name, and in the Diaspora, where he was instrumental in formulating the structure of the Jamaica Diaspora Foundation.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who is on official business in China, in a statement said he was deeply saddened by the news of Nettleford’s death.

He said Jamaica and the entire world have lost an intellectual and a creative genius – a man whose contribution to shaping and projecting the cultural landscape of the entire Caribbean region is unquestionable. Golding said Nettleford’s passing has left a void “in our world that will be a challenge to fill.”

Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Jamaican Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports said, “The nation, the wider Caribbean, and beyond mourn the loss of this great Caribbean icon.”

Former Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson said he was shocked at the news, given that only a fortnight ago he had seen Nettleford and he seemed fit and fine.

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller said “This is a national loss and one that I feel personally. Words are inadequate to capture the extent of the grief I feel.”

Nettleford was a son of rural Jamaica, born in Falmouth, Trelawny and schooled in Montego Bay. From humble origins he rose to prominence in the Jamaican society, and made outstanding achievements, renowned for his keen intellect and oratory.

From a lecturer in labor economics at UWI, he became a professor of Extra Mural Studies, and also became head of the Trade Union Education Institution.

Nettleford was a Rhodes Scholar, who studied at Oxford University and was an outstanding writer. His publications included Mirror, Mirror: Manley and the New Jamaica, The African Connexion, In Our Heritage, and Caribbean Cultural Identity: the case of Jamaica.

Despite his academic excellence, Nettleford was possibly more popular in Jamaica for his cultural work, especially as the creator and chief choreographer of the NDTC. Through his work, the NDTC has gained international repute to rank as one of the better dance groups in the world. He was a talented dancer himself, and the audience at the NDTC’s performances usually swelled when dances featuring Nettleford were on the program.

He was cultural adviser to the Prime Minister Golding, member of the Inter-American Committee on Culture, and a consultant to the government of Ghana, the CARICOM cultural expose, CARIFESTA and to UNESCO.

He was the recipient of several awards including, the Jamaican Order of Merit, the Gold Musgrave Medal, the Pelican Award from the UWI Guild of Graduates, an honorary doctor of Humane letters from the University of Hartford and the Living Legend Award from the Atlantic Black Arts Festival.

Margaret Barrett, President of the Florida chapter of the UWI Guild of Graduates, said, “Nettleford’s contribution to the UWI and the Caribbean community will truly live on. He will be remembered for the academic guidance he gave and his eloquence of the English language.”

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KINGSTON – A senior United States official says Washington has no plans to reverse the extradition request for Jamaican Christopher “Dudus” Coke on drugs and gun related charges.

“As of now, we have no intent to remove the request. We believe we have sound grounds to make the request, we wouldn’t have put it forward without it. We do our due diligence quite well before we take any measures of that type,” the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central America and the Caribbean, Julissa Reynoso told a news conference here.

“We are working with the government. Extradition is an issue of utmost importance to our judicial system and to our domestic and international policies. This individual is considered to be a person of very high interest and we are actively engaged with the government of Jamaica to make this happen as soon as possible,” she said.

Last August, U.S. prosecutors said they wanted the Jamaican government to hand over Coke over to them to face gun and drug-running charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

“We consider this individual to be a person of very high interest,” Reynoso said.

The Jamaica government, however, has stalled signing the order, requesting additional information on the case against Coke, 40, a well known supporter of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Reynoso said that the issue of Coke’s extradition and other topics of national importance had been discussed with Foreign Affairs Minister Kenneth Baugh on Tuesday.

She, however, did not disclose the details of talks, indicating however that the delay in extraditing Coke has not affected the relationship between the two countries.

“We are actively engaged in having this thing resolved, but it is not the heart and soul of our relationship,” she said. (CMC)

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KINGSTON – The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), one of several trade unions representing workers at the cash-strapped national airline, Air Jamaica, is calling for a speedy end to negotiations regarding the sale of the carrier.

“Air Jamaica is at the stage where it is in bad need of capital and that capital could only come from an investor,” said BITU president Kavan Gayle.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding told parliament earlier this month that a deal with a preferred bidder had fallen through and the Trinidad and Tobago owned Caribbean Airlines, which had modified its previous bid, had expressed interest in buying Air Jamaica. He said talks were taking place in earnest.

Air Jamaica, which has accumulated losses of US$1.2 billion, has been on the selling block since 2007, but Government has not been able to find a buyer.

Golding, who flew to Trinidad to discuss the matter with a team from Caribbean Airlines two weeks ago, said he has been having telephone conversation with Prime Minister Patrick Manning, concerning the possible deal.

“Caribbean Airlines has a view and a vision of one Caribbean and one airline serving the entire Caribbean. We have indicated to them that one Caribbean is wonderful and that is fine but we are a tourist destination … tourism is part of our lifeblood,” Golding told legislators.

Gayle said that his union “sincerely hopes that within a reasonable time the government will be able to broker a deal with Caribbean Airlines”.

He said that the negotiations which had been ongoing regarding the sale of the airline had collapsed “because of the extended period which it took to materialize”.

Sources said that some of the conditions for the divestment are that the Air Jamaica brand must be maintained, adequate airlift must be provided for the island and the selected partner must have extensive airline experience, matched with the appropriate capital.

Caribbean Airlines began operations on January 1, 2007, replacing the cash-strapped national airline BWIA. (CMC)

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