Caribbean Times 52nd Issue - Wednesday 7th December 2016

4 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Wednesday 7th December 2016
V.C. Bird envisioned the Economic Powerhouse
By Renio Abbott
On Friday 9th December,
we celebrate the life of
our National Hero Sir Vere
Cornwall Bird.
The celebration culminates
with a Wreath laying
ceremony at Sir V.C. Bird
Bust, that was erected in
his honour at the Market
Square.
The annual ceremony
sees multitudes of Antiguans
and Barbudans pay
their respects to the accomplishments
of arguably our
most impactful National
Hero.
“Papa” as he was affectionately
called is known
to many as the father of the
Nation and was born on December
9th, 1909.
Sir Vere was a giant of
a man he led the team in
the union as they fought
for better waged and better
working wages and better
conditions. He was also our
country first Premier and
later our first Prime Minister
after we attained Independence
on 1st November,
1981.
Unlike most of Sir Vere’s
Political Colleagues in
the Region, his education
was limited to his primary
schooling at T.N Kirnon
School they known as the
Boy’s School.
However, his love for the
people allowed him to attend
the high office of President
of the Antigua trades
and Labour Union in 1945.
After the Minitrial System
was introduced in 1956,
the Governor gave Sir Vere
the Trade and Production
Portfolio; further constitution
advancement came in
1960.
Sir Vere was a visionary
and a trailblazer, who believed
that education was
the means to elevate ourselves
from poverty.
Antigua was the first
Eastern Caribbean Island to
receive statehood from Britain
with London remaining
responsible for foreign policy
and defence in 1967.
In 1971 Sir Vere lost
government to the PLM but
also the parliamentary seat
he had held for 25 years and
in 1976 Sir Vere regained
Governance in Antigua and
Barbuda.
In 1955, the Princess
Margaret School was built
by the colonial administration
at the behest of Sir Vere.
The Princess Margaret
School was made a Secondary
School. The first batch of
22 students, secretly selected
to take the equivalent of
today’s CXC exams, scored
highly, so far produced two
or four Prime Ministers,
specialists and an impressive
list of achievers came
from the Princess Margaret
School, and remains one of
the outstanding institutions
of learning in Antigua and
Barbuda today.
In 1985 Antigua’s international
airport, which was
first named Coolidge, was
renamed V.C. Bird International
Airport in his honour.
Sir Vere envisioned the
means of production, for indigenous
Antiguans to own
more businesses, and play
an ever-increasing role in
the generation of jobs, economic
opportunities, and
in the management of our
economy.
He took an economy
based exclusively on sugar
and cotton, and transformed
the economy, creating new
wealth so all could enjoy the
benefits of a new Antigua
and Barbuda.
Vere Cornwall Bird
planted the seeds for national
development that would
bear fruit well into the future.
He helped to drive the
fear from our hearts, inculcated
over three hundred
years by the whip, public
floggings, incarceration for
resistance, humiliation and
defeat.
Vere Cornwall Bird provided
the living example of
superior leadership for the
people in Antigua and Barbuda.
He died in St. John’s on
28th June 1999, leaving a
legacy that every Antigua
and Barbudan can be proud
of.
Long live the vision of
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird.