Recipients of the County of Surrey pose with Governor-General, Professor Kenneth Hall (centre) and his wife Mrs.Rheima Hall after receiving their Governor-General Achievement Awards and the Governor-General Youth Award of Excellence last Wednesday at a ceremony, which was held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. - photo by Oliver Wright/Staff Photographer

Twelve persons from the county of Surrey have been recognised for their contribution to their communities, through the presentation last Wednesday of the Governor-General's Achievement Awards and Youth Award for Excellence.

Our great contributors

The awardees include Denroy Decardova Palmer who was awarded the Governor-General's Achieve-ment Award for the parish of Portland, Ricardo Bryan and Calene Shirley - who were presented with the Youth Award for Excellence; Nona Williams, recipient for the parish of St. Thomas and recipients of the Youth Award for Excellence, Dian Hamilton and Candice Watson. Nora Henriques was the recipient for the parish of Kingston and the Youth Award For Excellence for that parish went to Nnerka Cooke and Omar Dacres; Phillip Hamilton was the recipient for the parish of St. Andrew and recipients of the Youth Award for Excellence were Shomari Blake and Ralph Walker.

Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall, in addressing the awardees at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, said the recipients were merely examples of Jamaican people, adults and youth , who have contributed to creating a vibrant society and country with the capacity to provide hope and satisfaction for all Jamaicans.

"By singling out the recipients, the message is not so much one of personal accomplishments, but rather the extent to which the pursuit of excellence by individuals has enabled Jamaica to survive and even thrive in the new environment of the 21st century," he said.

He pointed out that the ceremony was taking place at an important crossroad in Jamaica's national life, making reference to the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the British Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade; the 45th year of Independence for Jamaica, the general election and the appointment of a new Prime Minister and Cabinet.

"These events have served to remind us of the capacity of our country and its citizens to achieve excellence in all spheres of life, whether at the national or international level," the Governor-General said.

This is the 16th year of the Governor-General Achievement Awards, which annually recognises one person from each parish who have, from modest social and economic circumstances, uplifted themselves and shown substantial social and economic upward improvement.