There was nothing contrived about the pride and dignity with which more than 100 people received national awards at yesterday's ceremony at King's House that was part of Jamaica's celebration this past week of its heritage and heroes.

Clearly, Jamaicans consider these awards to be things of value, worthy of being aspired to. So, they take events such as what transpired yesterday very seriously, representing high public acknowledgement of people's contribution to the development of society. Those badges, sashes and insignias represent something larger than our individual selves, a declaration of the potential within us for nobility. They have legitimacy.

It is important, therefore, as we have said before, that Jamaica protects the worth of the national honours. Every, or any, diminution in their value is a concession to the vulgarians of our capacity, collectively and individually, for greatness and the symbols thereof.

We make these observation, not because we feel that any award recipient to be unworthy. Indeed, we expect that the selection process is rigorous and exacting, capable of withstanding any scrutiny of the achievements of those selected and the basis on which the honours are bestowed.

But any such process, we suggest, is worthy of periodic review so as to satisfy ourselves that the basis on which the awards were established and the system for choosing awardees remain relevant.

In that context, 40 years since the promulgation of the national honours is a good time to conduct such a review. Indeed, it would coincide with the current debate on the Charter of Rights, which would more clearly define and guarantee the rights and freedoms of the Jamaican citizen.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, correctly, placed the Charter of Rights as a natural and logical progression of the work of the country's national heroes. In essence, the effort that was begun by the national heroes is a work in progress which, perhaps, will never end. They symbolise, as Mr Golding said, "the spirit of which great nations are made and they embody the qualities of the great people what we can be".

Critical bar

In that sense, when the Jamaican state confers a national honour, it invokes the spirit of the national heroes and suggests that those who are awarded have scaled a critical bar that is well beyond the ordinary, and worthy of recognition and acknowledgement by the rest of us. We expect few to sit in that pantheon, even as we note the significant achievements of the many who contribute to the development of Jamaica and their individual communities.

In this regard, any review of the national awards process should perhaps place a strict limit on the number of top-tier honours, such as OJs, CDs and ODs awarded annually, with a tighter criteria for the induction into the orders. Maybe it is worthwhile to develop a selection process that removes the award of these honours from being the almost sole prerogative of the prime minister, but without subjecting potential awardees to the indignity of a sort of back-room, political horse-trading.

There could then be a significant prime ministerial recognition for specific and immediate achievements, which would not carry the same authority as the national honours, and would be the clear gift of the leader of the Government.

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