Barbados said goodbye yesterday to the country boy who rose to be a Prime Minister.
The parish of St Peter, where Professor Owen Seymour Arthur grew up, along with his dreams to become an economist and astute politician while a boy living in Benn Hill, simply said farewell to their local hero.
The northern community of Speightstown came to a virtual standstill under a blazing sun just before the 2 p.m. start of Arthur’s final act, as the usually quiet town drew national and regional attention as never before for the funeral service and burial of a former Prime Minister whose grassroots style of inclusionary politics and drive for regional integration had drawn rave reviews from each side of the political fence since his death on July 27.
Dignitaries, political colleagues and foes alike paid their final respects at St Peter’s Parish Church, albeit under strict physical distancing guidelines necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The congregation included Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, the lone living National Hero Sir Garfield Sobers, former Prime Ministers Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford and Freundel Stuart, and former Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler, along with members of Cabinet and consular dignitaries. (BA)
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