Thousands attend state funeral of former Dominican PM

by Paul Charles

Monday, January 19, 2004

ROSEAU, Dominica: Over 3,000 nationals and six Caricom leaders descended on the small southern town of Grand Bay on Saturday to bid farewell to the late Dominican prime minister Pierre Charles at a state funeral and burial in his birthplace. 

President of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide and Prime Ministers Owen Arthur (Barbados), Dr Keith Mitchell (Grenada), Dr Ralph Gonsalves (St Vincent and the Grenadines), Dr Kenny Anthony (St Lucia), and Lester Bird (Antigua and Barbuda) paid their last respects to the 49-year-old head of government who died in office on January 6 from acute heart failure.

Venezuela was represented by a government minister, replacing President Hugo Chavez who cancelled his trip to Roseau citing security concerns, a Dominican government source told Caribbean Net News. 

Several regional countries sent lower level representatives while regional and international institutions and diplomatic services came in large numbers to the primarily agricultural community that lies some ten miles south of the capital Roseau. 

Uniformed groups comprising officers from the police, prison, fire cadet corps and the government band spearheaded the proceeding at the funeral procession while the Bishop of Roseau Gilbert Malzaire led the service at the Roman Catholic Church.

Most mourners stood solemnly during the occasion, many wept loudly while some held up pictures of the late PM and the island's national flag. Others carried placards that read: ''Pierro our hero'', "You died for us'' and "Pierro none to compare.''

His childhood friend and Dominica's ambassador to the United Nations, Crispin Gregoire, in delivering the eulogy, stated, ''Pierre made the ultimate sacrifice in fighting selflessly to the end in the interest of his people on this tiny island of Dominica.''

Mr Gregoire , the person tipped to take over from Mr Charles, who was Grand Bay's MP since 1985, added that his colleague was ''like a fighter in the ring he took the punches that were thrown at him and was still able to smile and radiate the love and kindness for which he is so well known.'' 

31-year-old Roosevelt Skerrit has taken over as the prime minister in the coalition administration of his Dominica Labour Party and the tourism minister Charles Savarin's Dominica Freedom Party.  

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