Late Prime Minister of Dominica to be honoured on first anniversary of his death

The late Pierre Charles

Thursday, January 6, 2005

ROSEAU, Dominica: The late Prime Minister of Dominica, Pierre Charles, will be honoured on Thursday in Grand Bay, a constituency he dominated for nearly two decades. January 6, 2005 will mark one year since Dominica’s sixth Prime Minister died. 

A number of activities have been planned to commemorate the first anniversary since his passing. The Geneva to Deux Pond Road in Grand Bay, opened in 2003, will be officially renamed in memory of Charles. The Grand Bay Secondary School will also be renamed in honour of the former Dominican leader. 

A memorial service will be held on Thursday at the Grand Bay Roman Catholic Church followed by the launching the Pierre Charles Foundation later that evening.

Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, other Cabinet colleagues, Parliamentary Representative for Grand Bay, John Fabien and family and friends are all expected to participate in the activities. 

Pierre Charles entered Parliament in 1985 on a Dominica Labour Party ticket and remained undefeated as the Parliamentary Representative for Grand Bay until his death. He became Prime Minister in October of 2000 following the sudden death of Rosie Douglas. 

Pierre Charles is credited with having pioneered an economic stabilization and recovery programme that was designed to restore stability to the public finances as a platform for the restoration of economic growth. Despite health worries in 2002 and 2003, he was able to gain acceptance of the programme by the Dominican populace and the international donor community and lived long enough to see signs of an incipient economic recovery by late 2003. 

In a tribute to his predecessor, Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, acknowledged the enormous contribution of Pierre Charles at a critical juncture in the country’s history. Mr. Skerrit said: “I have inherited from Pierre Charles a road map for the future social and economic development of this country. He did not live to see it implemented, but the final product will be a lasting monument to his memory.”

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