National Hero and former Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante will be remembered today when the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission stages a floral tribute and a church service to commemorate the 129th anniversary of his birth.

The floral tribute will be held at the National Heroes Park in Kingston starting at 8:00 this morning, while the remembrance service will be held at his birthplace - Blenheim, Hanover - starting at midday.

The floral tributes will be led by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness.

Other members of government and the diplomatic corps will also offer tributes during the hour-long ceremony.

The commemoration will continue in Hanover, with a remembrance service organised in conjunction with the Hanover Parish Council.

The service will feature reflections on Bustamante, 'the politician', 'the trade unionist' and 'a man of all times'.

Sir Alexander Bustamante attended elementary school in rural Hanover.

He travelled extensively as a young man, returning to Jamaica in 1932, when he began to lead the struggle against colonial rule.

He first came to the public's attention as a writer of letters to The Daily Gleaner.

A Jamaican labour leader, Bustamante's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won 22 of 32 seats in the first House of Representatives which made him the unofficial leader and Minister for Communication until the position of Chief Minister was created in 1953.

He held this position until the JLP was defeated in 1955.

He became Jamaica's first prime minister after the JLP's victory at the polls in 1962 and served until 1967.

In 1969 Alexander Bustamante was given the title of National Hero. He died in 1977 at the age of 93.