The Editor, Sir:

A lot of encomiums have, appropriately, been heaped on Ryan Peralto Sr, but not much said about his role as industry minister.

Peralto inherited me as his press secretary and as someone who has worked in that capacity with nine ministers of industry over successive administrations, one thing stayed with me over the years: No industry minister had a more intimate and a greater grasp of the technical aspects of production than Ryan Peralto.

It would always absolutely amaze me as we visited plants across the island that Peralto would immediately assess all the production issues; issues surrounding factory layout and all the technical aspects of the production - irrespective of what type of plant it was. Often, he seemed to know more about the business than the business owners and production managers who were guiding the tour!

I have always said that there has never been a more understated and underrated industry minister in Jamaica's history. In meetings with business leaders, Peralto was always authoritative, extremely knowledgeable and sharp.

But Peralto never had the profile: No one could accuse him of being nattily attired or having a sense of fashion. His voice was not the most melodic, and in a superficial society, people tend to draw wrong conclusions from that. But he had a sharpness of mind, and a remarkable ability to assimilate information easily and to cut to the chase. He was one of the most unpretentious and sincere persons I ever met.

He was a political animal, but worked extremely closely with his permanent secretary, Gloria Priestley, and he respected the canons of public-service neutrality. You could always depend on him to say what he really believes. History will be kind to him.

I am, etc.,

IAN BOYNE

Kingston 19