{"id":134613,"date":"2021-08-09T11:43:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T15:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=134613"},"modified":"2021-08-09T12:11:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T16:11:00","slug":"national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"National Hero Sir Lester Bird Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Prime Minister of Antigua Sir Lester Bird has died.<\/strong><\/p>

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He passed away this morning at the age of 83.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Gaston Browne described Bird as a \u201cgreat son of the soil\u201d who was a distinguished leader.<\/p>

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Bird was Antigua’s second prime minister.<\/p>

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A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said that all flags in the country will now be flown at half-mast.<\/p>\n

Bird will be accorded a State funeral.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Five things about Sir Lester Bryant Bird:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Began his political career in 1971<\/p>

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2. Was first a\u00a0Senator<\/p>

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3. Served as prime minister from 1994 to 2004<\/p>\n

4. Was chairman of the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party from 1971 to 1983<\/p>\n

5. Won a bronze medal for the West Indies in long jump at the 1957 Pan American Games<\/p>\n

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, said, beyond any doubt, Bird was\u00a0the architect of modern Antigua, responsible for successfully transitioning the country from an economy dependent on a defunct sugar industry into one of the leading tourism centres in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder his stewardship, Antigua and Barbuda became a high-income country, transforming the quality of jobs and housing and introducing high-end tourist resorts. When he lost the general elections in 2004, Antigua and Barbuda had the lowest rate of unemployment in the Caribbean of five per cent.\u00a0Many people had the luxury of two jobs.”<\/p>\n

In his later years, Bird played golf but his passion was cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a different time, he might have been selected to represent the West Indies,” said Sanders.<\/p>\n

He also said the former prime minister was a committed regionalist, who was highly instrumental in establishing the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States serving twice as its Chairman \u2013 the first time he was not yet Prime Minister, but such was the confidence that leaders of the Eastern Caribbean reposed in him.<\/p>\n

He strongly influenced the decision to turn the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority into a Central Bank that serves its member states.<\/p>\n

Sanders said that in the wider Caribbean, Bird was a giant.<\/p>\n

It was under his leadership as chair of CARICOM that with Jamaica’s P J Patterson and Barbados’ Owen Arthur that the Regional Negotiating Machinery was established for collective bargaining with the European Union.<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH FROM OPM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please be advised that Antigua and Barbuda has lost one of its most distinguished and heroic sons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Honourable Sir Lester Bird, National Hero and Former Prime Minister, has died.<\/p>\n

The sad event took place this morning at about 6:00 am.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The acting Prime Minister, in consultation with the Prime Minister who returns to the state today, has ordered that all\u00a0 flags be flown at half mast, beginning immediately.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has also been ordered that planning commence for a State Funeral at an agreed-upon date.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May his soul join the ancestors in glory.<\/p>\n

More to come…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Prime Minister of Antigua Sir Lester Bird has died. He passed away this morning at the age of 83. Prime Minister Gaston Browne described Bird as a \u201cgreat son of the soil\u201d who was a distinguished leader. Bird was Antigua’s second prime minister. A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":129143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNational Hero Sir Lester Bird Dies - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Honourable Sir Lester Bird, National Hero and Former Prime Minister, has died.The sad event took place this morning at about 6:00 am.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Hero Sir Lester Bird Dies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Honourable Sir Lester Bird, National Hero and Former Prime Minister, has died.The sad event took place this morning at about 6:00 am.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-09T15:43:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-09T16:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sir-Lester-Bird.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"535\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"National Hero Sir Lester Bird Dies\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-09T15:43:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-09T16:11:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:798\/h:535\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sir-Lester-Bird.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/national-hero-sir-lester-bird-dies\/\",\"name\":\"National Hero Sir Lester Bird Dies - 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