From Antigua Observer

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Dec 27, CMC – The Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat has joined the rest of the region in mourning the death of the former governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir Dwight Venner.

Sir Dwight, 70, the longest serving governor of the ECCB that serves as a Central Bank for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands,died in St. Lucia last Thursday.

“Sir Dwight was a true champion of regional integration.  During his more than two decades at the helm of the sub-regional Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), he was an outstanding contributor to discourse on regional economics and finance and prospects for a unified Caribbean.

“His focused leadership at the Central Bank has been credited for the growth and stability of the financial system in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  He also played a leading role in the establishment of the OECS Economic Union,” the 15-member CARICOM grouping said in a statement.

It said that Sir Dwight lived the regional integration experience.

“A Vincentian by birth, he served for a number of years as St. Lucia’s Director of Finance and Planning and before that as Lecturer in Economics at the Jamaica-based Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies. As the ECCB Governor he was based at its St. Kitts and Nevis headquarters. His award of Knight Commander (KBE) for service to the financial sector was recommended by the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines while he also received the St. Lucia Cross for distinguished and outstanding service of national importance to St. Lucia.

“The region has lost one of its outstanding sons. May his soul rest in peace,” CARICOM said, extending “ its deepest sympathies to his wife Linda, their children and other members of the Venner family”.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Browne (without tie) with the Late Sir K. Dwight Venner and Dr. Didicus Jules and Ambassador Colin Murdoch

For more on this story go to: http://antiguaobserver.com/caricom-mourns-the-death-of-sir-dwight-venner/