The Most Honourable Orette Bruce Golding
- tcollins66
- Jul 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 12
2007 - 2011
Orette Bruce Golding was born on December 5, 1947, in Clarendon to parents Tacius and Enid Golding. He spent most of his early years in St. Catherine before relocating to Kingston in 1955, where he attended the Alpha Primary School.
After completing his Common Entrance in 1957, he attended St George's College before pursuing A Levels in Economics and Religious Knowledge at Jamaica College in 1963 (Jamaica Labour Party). He later attended the University of the West Indies Mona (UWI), where he graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics.
Early Political Career and Rise to Leadership
As a member of the House of Representatives for West St. Catherine, Mr. Golding’s father laid the foundation for his introduction to the world of politics. When he was just a teenager, Mr. Golding had been tasked with setting up and operating the public address systems at political meetings. He further went on to play a more pivotal role in 1967, when he suspended his university studies to assist with his father’s campaign during a political crisis, resulting in a decreased voting margin and a winning seat (NLJ).
The year 1968 proved to be one of both political and professional growth for Mr. Golding. He was elected Vice Chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Constituency Executive for West St. Catherine. He was also appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the National Lotteries Commission, all while still attending university. Upon completing his studies at UWI Mona the following year, Mr. Golding was elected to the Central Executive of the JLP and was one of the founders of the youth arm 'Young Jamaica' at just 21 years old. In 1972, he became a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Jamaica. In 1974, he was elected as General Secretary for the Jamaica Labour Party. 1977 saw him taking a step back from representative politics to focus on his responsibilities as General Secretary and his appointment to the Senate.
Mr. Golding was appointed as Minister of Construction in 1980 and Member of Parliament for South Central St. Catherine in 1983. He became the Chairman of the JLP in 1984 as well as the Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements (1984-1985) (JIS). He also served as Opposition Spokesman on Finance and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (1989-1995) before resigning from both positions and the Jamaica Labour Party in 1995. Following his resignation, he founded the National Democratic Movement, where he served as president for six years.
He rejoined the JLP a year later and was appointed Senator and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. In February 2005, he returned to the position of Chairman. Mr. Golding was then elected as Member of Parliament for West Kingston and Leader of the Opposition in April of the same year. On September 11, 2007, he became Prime Minister, a position he served in until October 2011.
Social and Economic Development Contributions
Ministerial contributions: Outside of his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Golding made significant strides during his time as Minister of Construction. Under his leadership, the construction sector grew by 43% after its 68% decline under the previous administration. Seeking to improve the quality of life for Jamaicans, Mr. Golding oversaw the building of 25,000 new housing units and reformed the Rent Restriction laws, which encouraged the protection of tenants. Additionally, legislation was passed to provide professional registration for architects and engineers.
As part of his initiative for road improvement, the IDB-funded Rural Road Improvement Programme (RRIP) and the HUB Programme were created to upgrade township roads. Another notable contribution of Mr. Golding was the introduction of the National Shelter Sector Strategy, which gained international recognition from the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements and was later adopted as a model for several developing countries. While serving as Shadow Minister of Finance, his leadership in investigating controversies such as the furniture scandal, improper distribution of zinc to hurricane victims, and irregularities in the sale of government lands earned him great respect from the general public (NLJ Profiles).
Socioeconomic change: During his administration, Mr. Golding implemented several policies directed at driving social change and economic development. These included the removal of user fees at public health facilities and tuition fees at the secondary level, as well as reforms in early childhood education. His administration increased the number of beneficiaries under the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), increased the national minimum wage and established the Constituency Development Fund to support community needs in various constituencies. Mr. Golding also reviewed libel and slander legislation, updated the development approval process and introduced Jamaica House Live, a radio programme aimed at enhancing engagement and communication between the Prime Minister and citizens, both locally and in the Diaspora.
In light of the global economic crisis, he launched the economic stimulus package and implemented the National Export Strategy to boost productivity and growth (Jamaica 55). Additionally, Mr. Golding was a key figure in developing the National Development Plan (Vision 2030) and the Medium-Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework, which aimed to kick-start Jamaica’s journey towards becoming the 'place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business' (JIS Vision 2030).
Other Noteworthy Achievements
In 2019, the University of the West Indies reconferred the title of Honorary Distinguished Fellow to Mr. Golding for his contributions to university discourse on Caribbean integration, assistance in conducting research across various areas of study and developing links between public and private sectors (UWI Global).
