CARICOM Chairman, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has joined other leaders from across the region in paying tribute to SVG’s former Prime Minister Sir James Fitz-allan Mitchell who passed away on Tuesday November 23rd, at the age of 90.
Sir James, who was popularly known as “son mitchell,” died five days after being discharged from the intensive care unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Barbados, where he had been taken after falling ill at his home in Bequia, on October 30th.
After he was discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital last Thursday, Sir James was flown home to his beloved Bequia where he died.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne said he telephoned Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves to convey the condolences of the Caribbean Community’s heads of government to St Vincent and the Grenadines on the death of one of its iconic figures.
The CARICOM chair recalled that Sir James has served for 16 years as prime minister of SVG and during that time was an active regionalist, promoting several initiatives for the deepening of integration in the region.
Prime Minister Browne also noted that Sir James had been an active advocate of the idea of a political union of the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States in the early 1980s.
The CARICOM chair concluded his statement by saying “the region has lost a true champion of our caricom integration and a significant figure in advancing the region’s causes in the global community.
Oecs tribute to sir james
The Commission of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has also extended sincere condolences to the Mitchell family and the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the passing of Sir James.
Reflecting on the esteemed tenure of the former prime minister, OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules, lauded Sir James as one of the elder stalwarts of regional integration.
He said Sir James proudly championed the OECS and will forever be enshrined in the pantheon of the historic greats of our region. Dr. Jules said one of Sir James’s most notable moments was at the 25th meeting of the OECS Authority in 1995, when he championed as chairman the idea of the inclusion of Barbados, signalling his ambitious aspiration for the expansion of the Caribbean family.”
The OECS Secretariat is marking the solemn occasion of Sir James passing with the OECS flag being flown at half-mast.
