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Statement on the Passing of
Sir John Compton, Prime Minister of St. Lucia
September 10 ,2007
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States extends condolences to the
Government and people of Saint Lucia on the passing of their beloved Prime
Minister, the Right Honourable Sir John George Melvin Compton, on Friday 7th
September 2007.
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Sir John Compton addresses an early
meeting of OECS Heads of Government |
Sir John was,
throughout his political life, a towering figure in the regional integration
movement, and will be remembered in particular for the significant role he
played in the establishment and growth of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS).
Sir John was a strong advocate for the islands of the Eastern Caribbean
proceeding jointly to political independence. The islands had experienced the
benefits of working together through the West Indies Associated States (WISA)
Council of Ministers which was established in 1966 following the demise of the
West Indies Federation, and which grouped the Windward Islands of Dominica,
Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Islands
of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla and Montserrat. When the
islands opted to pursue independence separately, beginning in the 1970s, Sir
John was at the forefront of new integration arrangements for the newly
independent micro states, which eventually led to the creation of the OECS.
Faced with the daunting task of conducting their own external affairs, including
managing and financing overseas diplomatic representation, the governments of
the independent and soon to be independent Eastern Caribbean islands turned to
Mr. Compton, then Premier of Saint Lucia, to chair a Committee to make
recommendations on a model for joint overseas representation.
The "Joint Overseas Representation Report" from Mr. Compton's Committee went
beyond recommendations on foreign affairs and proposed the restructuring of the
existing WISA Council into a new organization with responsibility for other
areas of functional cooperation among the member states. That recommendation was
adopted at a WISA Council meeting in Saint Lucia in 1979 and received final
ratification at a follow up meeting later that year at which the mandate was
given for the drafting of a Treaty to establish the OECS.
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Sir John Compton poses with Heads of
Government and Heads of Delegations at an OECS Meeting |
Although Sir John
was out of office when, what became known as the Treaty of Basseterre was signed
in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis in 1981 to establish the OECS,
his return to the helm of the
Saint Lucia government in 1982 brought renewed commitment and support for the
new organization. His close working relationship and friendship with other long
serving OECS leaders during the early years of the
organization, including Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica, Sir James Mitchell of
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Kennedy Simmonds of St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr.
Herbert Blaize of Grenada and Deputy Prime Minister Lester Bird of Antigua and
Barbuda helped to create and sustain a number of enduring institutions of
functional cooperation among the Member States of the OECS.
The OECS is made up of nine Member States; Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.
The passing of Sir
John Compton comes at a time when the OECS is moving steadfastly in the
fulfillment of his dream of unity in the Caribbean, as its deepens the
integration process in the form of the proposed Economic Union of the Eastern
Caribbean. This will be a fitting tribute to his life and his work for the
advancement of the peoples of St. Lucia and the OECS. We give thanks for his
tremendous contribution in nurturing the spirit of true regionalism and
integration, and we recognize him as being a true OECS giant.
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