Country first

Late PM remembered for putting Barbados above all

By Emmanuel Joseph

A man who did what he had to do and always put his country first.

That was how a former minister in the late Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford’s Cabinet remembered him, while one of his political opponents and a veteran trade unionist added to the glowing tributes paid to their late contemporary.

Keith Simmons, an attorney-at-law and a former Minister of Education in a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration that Sir Lloyd led, recalled him as a sound individual who “did what he had to do”.

“He was a very quiet guy. I knew him from the time…we grew up in the same district. He was a good cricketer – a lot of people do not know that. He was a very quiet, unassuming person and did what he had to do. That was his style,” Simmons, one of the Cabinet members who supported the historic no-confidence motion that ousted Sir Lloyd and toppled his government in 1994.

“He was not flamboyant. He did not show off. He was just sound. I knew him from the time he was a boy and he did not change,” he added as he paid tribute to the late DLP and Barbados leader who contributed significantly to educational development in this country.

Sir Roy Trotman, a former DLP member and an independent parliamentarian during Sir Lloyd’s final term in office, remembered the late PM as a person for whom he had a lot of respect, particularly when dealing with labour issues.

“We developed a very healthy respect for each other. We did not always agree but we had to respect him for the tremendous strength that he exercised during the crisis of the early 90s,” said the retired BWU general secretary.

Sir Roy said that because the late leader “did not speak fully” on the issue of the potential devaluation of the Barbados dollar, which contributed to the decision to cut public sector salaries by eight per cent in 1991, people never understood until others spoke to it.

“But we are sure that on reflection, we all are of the sense that he did much in trying to make sure that we preserved the strength of the Barbados dollar, and that because of his efforts, we were able to get through one of the most difficult periods for the well being of our country,” the veteran trade unionist and former DLP MP for St Michael Central asserted.

“I knew him well. I respected him and he respected me, and I wish, on behalf of the union, to convey our deepest condolences to his family on his passing.”

One of Sir Lloyd’s former political opponents, retired Chief Justice and former Barbados Labour Party (BLP) MP for St Thomas Sir David Simmons said he and the late DLP leader were “very” close.

“Although we were political adversaries, Sir Lloyd and I had a long and cordial relationship that began at a conference in Oxford in 1962. In fact, in 1979, he was a member of the delegation that went as the first parliamentary delegation from Barbados to the People’s Republic of China, and we had a wonderful time together,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“Sandi was essentially a decent man, a Barbadian patriot and a nation builder, committed to the upliftment of the broad mass of people of this island. His enduring legacy will surely be his contribution to the development and reform of education, well exemplified by the establishment of the Barbados Community College.”

He also reflected on Sir Lloyd’s debating prowess.

“Sir Lloyd was a skilful and dangerous debater whose ability as a counter-puncher was legendary among politicians of my vintage. Speaking as a former member of the judiciary, I have to place on the record that it was Sir Lloyd who ensured that Barbados got a separate Court of Appeal in 1990 to replace the rather unsatisfactory appellate arrangement that had existed for far too long in this country,” Sir David stated, also noting that Sir Lloyd, as prime minister, had in 1992 recommended the appointment of his wife, former Justice Marie MacCormack, as the first female judge of the Supreme Court.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb