GOVERNMENTS OF the Caribbean Community are showing a high-level presence in South Africa for today’s official state-organised memorial service to celebrate the life and times of the internationally famous champion for political freedom and fundamental human rights—Nelson Mandela.And the Trinidad and Tobago Government of Prime Minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar, current chairperson of CARICOM, has enabled this “Caribbean togetherness” with the arrangement of a special charter flight by state-owned Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) directly to Johannesburg.
Except for the Presidents of Guyana (Donald Ramotar) and Suriname (Desi Bouterse) who arrived at the weekend by earlier mutual travel arrangements, and separately as well as Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, the ‘Daily Nation’ was informed that heads of delegation from a number of other member states of CARICOM were on board yesterday’s CAL direct flight to Johannesburg.
Among those on the flight were the President of Haiti (Michel Martelly) and Prime Minister of The Bahamas (Perry Christie).
Barbados was represented by Foreign Minister, Senator Maxine McClean, and St Lucia and Grenada by their respective Foreign Ministers—Phillip Pierre and Elvin Nimrod. Representatives from a few other CARICOM countries, including St.Vincent and the Grenadines, had left for South Africa from New York on Sunday.
In a brief statement released prior to the departure of the CAL flight from Piarco International Airport, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that as chairperson of CARICOM, she felt “honoured to be leading this distinguished delegation to South Africa to attend the ‘Official State Memorial Service for Mr Nelson Mandela….”
She was pleased to also welcome among Trinidad and Tobago’s delegation, the country’s Opposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley and Khafra Kambon, chairman of the local Emancipation Support Committee.
The prime minister expressed “special thanks” to Caribbean Airlines “for successfully organising the logistics of this special trip at such short notice” in time for the memorial service.
The aircraft that took the CARICOM delegations to Johannesburg is due to return to T&T tomorrow.
Meanwhile, arrangements are being concluded for Mandela’s official funeral service on Sunday in his boyhood hometown of Qunu, where the monumental fighter for an end to apartheid rule in South Africa died last Thursday night, at 95, after months-long battle with lung infection.
The Cuban embassy in Barbados said in a statement yesterday that President Raoul Castro is scheduled to deliver a special tribute to Nelson Mandela at today’s memorial service as “the final speaker” for the event.
Written By Rickey Singh in Barbados