KUCHING, March 28 — Former Sri Aman Member of Parliament Jimmy Donald, 72, died at 7.30pm yesterday at the Sarawak General Hospital here.

His death was announced by his son Leon Jimat in his facebook account.

The late Jimmy, who had been battling cancer for the past four years, was Sri Aman Member of Pparliament for three terms from 1995 to 2008.

He was formerly a member of the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak(PBDS).

He then joined the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

In 2006 he left PRS to join the state PKR but in October, 2011 he left it to join the state DAP, serving as its Balai Ringin branch chairman until his demise.

The late Jimmy is also known to be a prolific writer on Iban cultural literature.

Before joining politics, he had served as the principal of a number of secondary schools here and in Sri Aman.

He is survived by his wife Mary Andrew and children Leon Jimat, Gerald Empaling, Bridgette Astra, Herbert Bandir, Jimmy Melintang and 10 grandchildren.

The late Jimmy will then be laid to rest at the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) cemetery in Siol Kandis in Petra Jaya here on Thursday. — Bernama