Senior public servant dies suddenly

A career public servant died suddenly on Thursday, while attending a regional conference of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) here in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Louise Tash, 55, reportedly collapsed some time after 1 pm, while she was in conversation with another female at the conference, which was being held at the Beachcombers Hotel in Villa.

A senior economist, Tash was the head of the Economic Planning and Sustainable Development Unit in the Economic Planning and Sustainable Development Division of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Sustainable Development and Information Technology.

SEARCHLIGHT understands that Tash fainted to the ground, and a nurse, who was assigned to the conference attempted to resuscitate, but the senior public servant was unresponsive. According to reports, the doctor who was on call for the conference arrived shortly after.

In tributes made on social media late Thursday, Tash was described as a model public servant, a humble and caring individual, and a “nice, quiet, disciplined professional.”

Retired permanent secretary Luis deShong in a post described her as “… a sweet human being. A civil servant who was hugely dedicated to her duties. She was always so willing to lend the necessary support re: capital projects.”

The CTU workshop, which began on March 19, was held as part of ICT Week in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and presented a policy framework and guidelines for implementation of 21st Century Government.

An announcement on SVG TV on Thursday night said that all further activities for the conference, which was scheduled to end today, Friday, had been cancelled.

[UPDATED at 10:26 am on March 23 to correct Ms. Tash’s age]

[UPDATED at 3:56 pm on March 25 to correct Ms. Tash’s age]