On the occasion of Errol Barrow Day, we remember late prime minister Errol Walton Barrow.
Barbados was plunged into mourning last night as news spread of the death of Prime Minister Errol Barrow, the second Barbadian Government leader to die suddenly in office in just over two years.
Barrow, 67, died at his Kampala home near Paradise Beach Hotel, St Michael, during the mid-afternoon, after leaving his Bay Street office around midday.
A post-mortem to determine the cause of death is expected to be carried out today or tomorrow, official sources said. However, persons close to the late Prime Minister believe the cause was a heart attack.
The terse, official announcement of his passing was broadcast over radio and television at 8:40 p.m., minutes after Deputy Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford was sworn in by Governor General Sir Hugh Springer as the nation’s fourth post-Independence Prime Minister. CBC-TV carried the news at 8:49 p.m.
The ceremony at Government House was witnessed by all but two members of Cabinet, who are overseas on official business.
Tourism Minister Branford Taitt will return home this morning from Trinidad and Tobago, breaking off a tourist promotion drive.
Employment and Labour Relations Minister Wes Hall is in Switzerland, attending an International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference. Word was not available on when he would return.
Stunned Barbadians
A blanket of stillness enveloped the whole island as stunned Barbadians remained indoors to share their grief. Bridgetown was reduced to a mere trickle. Telephone lines were jammed.
Barrow’s death followed a hectic week of activities coinciding with the celebration of his party’s first anniversary in office.
Last week, he addressed the annual general meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, toured the Arawak Cement Plant, the Flour Mill and the Industrial Access Highway, and was feature speaker at a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) mass meeting in Independence Square, at which he appeared visibly tired.
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford, in his first official act, reappointed all Cabinet ministers in their positions “for the time being”. Barrow, just Friday night, had announced a reshuffle was in the offing.
Later, addressing the nation on radio and television, a sombre-looking Sandiford declared an indefinite period of mourning with immediate effect until after the state funeral, which has not yet been finalised.
He promised Barbadians: “Policies which we have embarked upon for the social and economic betterment of the nation will be continued with the best democratic traditions.
“I also wish to assure our friends in the region and in the international community that Barbados will continue to respect its obligations and work for the mutual strengthening of our relationships,” he said in the address.
Sandiford, the first person outside the legal profession to become Prime Minister of Barbados, said he felt Barrow’s death with “a deep sense of loss”.
Barrow, the long-standing representative for the constituency of St John, is survived by his wife Carolyn, and two children, Lesley and David.
This article was published June 2, 1987.
