Hardbeatnews, KINGSTON, Jamaica, Fri. Feb. 4, 2005: Jamaica?s Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, has stopped short of saying whether reggae?s legend, Robert Nestor Marley, who would have been 60 on Sunday, will be awarded the status of a national hero.

The call for the conferring of the status on Marley has been made by his Foundation, which has been celebrating the icon?s birthday in a major way in Ethiopia this week.

Patterson, earlier this week, instead said that government would partner with several of its state agencies, as well as other organizations and individuals, to honor Marley, in a year-long program of celebrations.

At a press conference at Jamaica House, Patterson, according to JIS News, said, “The 60th birthday is not just a day of celebration, it is at least deserving of a year of celebrations and we believe that the program that the government has accepted and on which we will embark, will serve as a fitting tribute from the nation of his birth.”

He credited Bob Marley for being the first Jamaican artiste to achieve international superstardom and “whose message of peace and love, in the face of formidable social and political challenges of the African people and their descendants, continues to have resonance in our hearts and minds today.”

A free concert is to be staged at Emancipation Park on Sunday, February 6, that will feature performances from a number of conscious reggae artistes. The concert is a joint effort of the government, the Bob Marley Foundation and American promoter, Robert Roskind. ? Hardbeatnews.com