Tears flow for late PM

By Sheria Brathwaite Grace Nurse stood at the edge of the pavement near the roundabout in Battaley’s, St Peter with tears flowing down her face. “God bless him, he was a good man,” she repeated several times as the military personnel removed the casket of the late Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford from the hearse and prepared for the procession to the St Peter’s Parish Church in Speightstown. As the 71-year-old who grew up in the same neighbourhood as the former Prime Minister dried the tears, the heavens opened, sending others gathered at the start of the procession scampering for shelter under nearby trees. “Everybody was against him, even the ministers on his side. He cut their salary and they got vex with him. But if he didn’t do it our money would have get devalued…. He did good for us but the people don’t understand it,” Nurse said. The retiree said she grew up in Mount Standfast, St James and lived a short distance from Sandiford. “He was a beautiful man. I am hurting to see him going today. I am hurting inside,” said the Roadview, St Peter resident who walked to Battaleys to say her final goodbyes. Other nearby residents also came out for the procession. Pearlita Holder rushed home from work in Fitts Village, St James, changed her clothes and hurried out of the house to see the proceedings. Chara Skinner brought her two children, her niece and her mother-in-law Andrea Codrington-Warde to see the procession. She said she wanted this to be a learning experience for the young ones as they had never seen a State funeral before. People took up several vantage points along Queen’s Street around noon. One woman who only gave her name as Mrs Austin said she wanted to see everything in person rather than watching it on television. She and her husband left their Mount Gay, St Lucy home to witness the parade at their place of worship, the Speightstown Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of the many satellite stations across the island. Randolph Woodroffe took a break from distributing costumes for Junior Kadooment band Northern Masks to view the procession. He said that as a former Coleridge and Parry Secondary School student, he was compelled to pay his respects to Sir Lloyd. “This is the second prime minister from the north. First, it was Owen [Arthur] and he was CP [Coleridge and Parry] boy. Sir Lloyd is also a CP boy and I am one too. Sir Lloyd taught me a development course at [Barbados] Community College,” he said. Over at Fisherman’s Pub, owner Clement Armstrong said both late leaders from the north had contributed greatly to the development of Barbados and did their best to advance the people of the north. He said their legacy should be documented so the younger generations would know what they did “to put Speightstown and St James high up on the map”. By the time the procession was in full swing and moving through Speightstown, scores of people had dotted the streets to take in the activity. Many workers from various businesses got the opportunity to take a break from their duties and were seen taking photos and videos of military personnel moving with precision along the route. sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb]]>