PM expresses sadness to regional colleagues

Chairman of Caricom, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has expressed his sadness over the recent illness of St Lucian Prime Minister Sir John Compton and his sympathy to Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur and his wife who lost their infant daughter last week.

Dr Gonsalves said that Sir John had “the indomitable will, a spirit as an ancient warrior.”{{more}} He was delivering the welcoming remarks at the special meeting of transportation ministers of CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) held in St Vincent and the Grenadines May 19th to 21st.

He expressed his solidarity with the people and Government of St Lucia on behalf of CARICOM, the Government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines and himself.

Dr Gonsalves also said that he understood what Prime Minister Arthur and his wife were going through having suffered a similar loss himself with the death of a two-week old son in 1980.

He said that during his time of grieving he found solace in the Bible, staying close to his family, reading books on bereaved parents and meditating on the larger meaning of life.

Arthur and his wife Julie’s newborn daughter Danielle, their second child, was born prematurely on Thursday May 17, and died the following morning. (KJ)