Former St. Lucia minister to be buried on Monday

Mr. George Odlum

Friday, October 3, 2003

CASTRIES, St. Lucia: Mr. George Odlum, former Minister for Foreign Affairs for St. Lucia, will be buried on Monday 6th, October. 

Mr. Odlum, who passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday, 28th September, will lie at the island's Parliament building for a public viewing from 10. a.m. to 4. p.m. on Sunday, 5th October. 

On Monday, a public holiday on the island, the body will leave the Vieux-Fort Funeral Home from 11. a.m. and will travel in a procession to the Mindoo Phillip Park in Castries, where a ceremony, to be conducted by Father Patrick Anthony, will be held. Mr. Odlum's body will later be taken to the Choc Cemetery, for burial.

As a former member of Parliament and government minister, Mr. Odlum will be given an official burial.

Cabinet Secretary Dr. James Fletcher says, that as a mark of mourning and respect on Mr. Odlum's passing, the Government of Saint Lucia has decreed that all flags on government buildings and other government agencies should be flown at half mast until further notice.

Mr. Odlum served the government of Saint Lucia first as a minister in the Labour Party administration elected after the 1979 general elections and then again after the 1997 polls. Between that time, he also served as Saint Lucia's Ambassador to the United Nations.

As foreign minister, Mr. Odlum was the architect of the government's foreign policy, the highlight of which was the establishment of relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC). He also championed the cause of the developing countries, particularly of the non-independent territories in various corners of the world, according to a government statement. 

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