Sir Lester Bird, Antigua and Barbuda’s second Prime Minister and son of the first leader of the country Sir Vere Bird Sr. will be laid to rest on Thursday. He, like his father, and as is customary for any former Prime Minister will be given a state funeral befitting the stature of the office he held. No doubt the grandeur of the occasion will be subdued by the regulations governing this ongoing pandemic but it nevertheless will be given the full respect deserved by this ABLP administration. At the age of 83, Sir Lester lived a full and eventful life. He will be remembered by many for his successes and equally for the controversies which may have shrouded his long, near half-century, political career.
Born in New York and raised in the tiny Antiguan village of Ovals with his mother Lady Lydia and father Sir Vere Bird, Sir Lester understood very early that his calling was one of service to Antigua and Barbuda and to his fellow country men and women. This was no doubt influenced by the fact that his father was the father of the nation, first premier and first Prime Minister. But, it was strongly nurtured and cultivated by the teachings of his mother with whom he shared a strong bond – as most sons do with their mothers. Having come from such a noble and distinguished lineage he knew firsthand the rigors and the tolls of political life.
He knew that such a life would be filled with never ending challenges especially for a young and newly formed nation which only gained its independence from its former colonial masters in 1981. He could have chosen, as so many children of political lineage, to enjoy a more leisurely life. He could have chosen to become a private citizen and enjoy the luxuries of privacy and material comfort. Yet, his passion was service. Thus, he chose to spend his life in service to the people of Antigua and Barbuda.
Indeed, the beginning of Sir Lester’s political career may best be described as a baptism of fire and a test in perseverance. He lost, on his very first outing, the seat of Barbuda which he contested in 1971. This was the year when the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party lost the general election to the Progressive Labour Movement – the P.L.M. Nevertheless, he did not allow this initial setback to dim his fire and after spending five years in the Upper House of Parliament as a senator, he would come back in 1976 to win the St. John’s Rural East seat in the elections of that year – a seat he would go on to win from 1976 to 2004 and again from 2009 to 2018. The seat now held by his niece the Honourable Maria Bird Browne. Throughout his career, he held several important ministries to include Finance, Tourism and eventually rose to become the second Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 – 2004.
Sir Lester’s achievements in politics are numerous. He was largely heralded as a transformative type leader who sought to build on the earlier anti-colonial achievements of his father in the struggle for the advancement of the people of Antigua and Barbuda.
Indeed, he was seen as the dynamo behind a number of the capital projects that were achieved under the premiership of Sir Vere. As a Prime Minister in his own right, he sought to transform the country from a low wage, low skilled economy to a high wage, high skilled economy by a necessary and strategic pivot to tourism and building the financial services and offshore sectors from the ground up.
Moreover, few of this generation might be aware of his tireless work as a diplomat to promote regionalism in an effort to deepen functional cooperation between what was then known as the ‘little eight’ but who we now refer to as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – the OECS. Sir Lester would serve as the first Chairman of the OECS Authority now OECS Commission.
He was a respected statesman with a deep commitment to regionalism who was revered for his lucidity of thought and eloquent orature at various regional and international meetings. He represented and championed the issues of small states in the global arena and was a tireless advocate for the poor and marginalized not just in Antigua and Barbuda but the entire global South.
Domestically, Sir Lester oversaw the transition from the era when Sugar was king to an era of Tourism supremacy which allowed for, among other things, tremendous capital injection to expand the otherwise basic capital stock of Antigua and Barbuda and create new, semi-skilled and skilled work for local people.
He is largely remembered for the creation of the Nevis Street pier, the dredging of the Deep Water Harbour and the building of the Heritage Quay shopping center to cater to large cruise ships and the thousands of tourists who would disembark and spend much needed foreign exchange on local vendors and crafts tradesmen.
He also built the Royal Antiguan Hotel which was at the time of its creation one of the largest capital projects on the island providing countless jobs for the locals. He also spearheaded the creation of the offshore financial and gaming sectors in a drive to diversify the economy. Sadly, these sectors could not withstand the onslaught of Western intervention but he is nonetheless credited having birthed them.
Of course the creation of new industries would necessitate a healthy and well-educated workforce for maximal productivity. Here, Sir Lester was decisive in the need to build a new hospital and upgrading the country’s existing educational infrastructure. The Sir Lester Bird Mount St. John’s Medical Center was his brainchild and in fitting tribute it now bears his name today.
Similarly, in education he built the Antigua and Barbuda Int’l Institute of Technology as he sought to prepare the Human Resource of our country for the Financial Sector which he wanted to develop. Additionally, his administration introduced the Education Levy a tax that was to be used to fund the maintenance and improvement of the nation’s education infrstrastructure.
The education levy provided free textbooks for all primary and secondary schools both public and private; supplies for various disciplines like Home Economics and natural sciences; grants for 150 students to a first degree; grants for teacher training and postgraduate studies.
In collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank he commissioned the Basic Education Project to upgrade all the secondary schools and complete the Science Block at the State College. Consequently, Antiguan students continue to perform at the highest levels in the regional CXC examinations achieving top marks and regional prizes.
On a more personal note Sir Lester was an avid sportsman and a well-known lover of athletics. He himself competed and won a bronze medal at the Pan American games. He was also an avid golfer in his later years. In government he championed sports as part of our development strategy and supported our young athletes in their development. He was also fond of supporting young people in many of their fundraising activities to go overseas to represent Antigua and Barbuda at various competitions even in retirement.
Lives of political figures, especially those who climb the highest heights of politics to lead the country, are seldom without controversy. Sir Lester Bird bears no exemption to this observation. His opponents throughout the years would accuse his administration of subverting democracy by stifling and undermining press freedom and exploiting the country’s weak election institutions.
There were also the numerous allegations of corruption and malfeasance in public life; most notably the Medical Benefits Inquiry – a saga which saw public officials ‘humiliated’ in a publicly televised inquiry into ‘missing funds’ from the nation’s health insurance scheme. Later another criminal investigation would be commissioned when Sir Lester lost the elections to Baldwin’s Spencer’s United Progressive Party to investigate leaked audio tapes involving alleged bribes and kickbacks involving a Japanese company Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries and a controversial banker Bruce Rappaport.
This resulted in a settlement being paid to the government of Antigua and Barbuda for a sum of US 12 million dollars by Bruce Rappaport in a civil claim filed against him. Sir Lester, however, was never convicted of any crime as no charges were ever brought against him.
At over six feat, Sir Lester was both a giant in real life and on the political landscape of Antigua and Barbuda. He made a sterling contribution in a career that spanned close to five decades and was knighted and made a national hero of Antigua and Barbuda in 2014.
Whatever the missteps of his administration and his own personal failings, it is clear that he made an indelible mark on the politics of Antigua and Barbuda and forever etched his name in the annals of its history. His is a life well lived and lessons well taught for us all to aspire, emulate, learn, and improve upon. We stand the poorer at his departure from the earthly realm. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
