THE BODY of former prime minister, Sir James Mitchell will lie in state at the House of Assembly this Friday, December 17 and his funeral service will be held a day later at the Kingstown Methodist Church.

Sir James, who founded the New Democratic Party (NDP), and served as this country’s prime minister from 1984 to 2000, died on November 23, 2021 aged 90.

The late, former member of Parliament will be accorded a state funeral.

A public service announcement from the Office of the Prime Minister issued yesterday, December 13, noted that viewing for the family will last for 15 minutes, beginning at 10:00a.m on Friday, and will be immediately followed by viewing for the Governor General and the Prime Minister from 10:15a.m to 10:45a.m.

Viewing for officials and dignitaries will be from 10:45a.m to 11:00a.m, after which viewing will be open to the general public from 11:00a.m to 3:00p.m.

There will be a ceremonial stop at the NDP Headquarters at Murray’s Road for 30 minutes, beginning at 3:30p.m. This is to be attended by executive members of the NDP only and will not be open to the general public.

The casket will be closed during the ceremonial stop at the NDP Headquarters.

The funeral service on Saturday will take place at the Kingstown Methodist Church, according to Anglican rites from 9:00a.m to noon.

Limited public seating will be available in the church and will be given on a first come, first serve basis.

Public seating will also be available in the two halls at the Methodist Church where members of the public can view the church service via a video screen.

Additional seating will be available in the parking lot of the church.

Strict COVID-19 protocols will be enforced in all instances.

Following the funeral service on Saturday, the body will be taken to Bequia via a private charter on the Bequia Express. No public transportation will be provided to the northern Grenadines island.

The ferry is expected to depart Kingstown at 1:00p.m and upon arrival in Bequia, there will be an official procession with a ceremonial stop at the Almond Tree for the playing of two songs. The funeral service will resume in Bequia at 2:30p.m at the St Mary’s Anglican Church until approximately 4:45p.m.

According to the public service announcement, “the purpose of having part of the service in Kingstown and part in Bequia is to facilitate the attendance of the public of our multi island state. The family wishes to encourage persons from the mainland to attend only the service in Kingstown and persons from the Northern and Southern Grenadines to attend the service in Bequia”.

Interment will be at the family cemetery at Mt Pleasant, Bequia at 5:00p.m.

The casket will only be opened during the period of official viewing at the House of Assembly on Friday.

The Mitchell family has requested that no photographs or videos be taken of the body during the official viewing period.

One minute of silence is to be observed nationwide at 11:00a.m on Friday.

The entire funeral service will be carried live on NBC Radio, VC3, IKTV and via live stream on all social media platforms. Links will be made available to the public during the week.