Thank you, Sir Vincent Beache!

EDITOR: The big contest is over and yes, I did celebrate.

I wish to thank my brother Christopher for keeping me well informed during the campaign and for the swift and detailed manner in which he relayed the results on election night.

I also compliment the “Searchlight” for the quality coverage of the elections – it was rich!{{more}}

While I am elated that my countrymen in their great wisdom have returned Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and the rest of the ULP team to office, I am saddened by the fact that Sir Vincent Beache would no longer be part of that body.

While I understand that after so many years he may have felt the need to walk away from the hard grind of Vincentian politics, he has been such a force in the arena and has been so easily approachable to those in need that it is difficult to accept the fact that he has stepped aside.

It seems just like yesterday but it was 1972 when he came on the scene. He narrowly lost to the late Victor Cuffy in the famous 6-6-1 result out of which came the Mitchell/PPP Alliance.

In the rematch following the collapse of that government Beache was swept into office. When he lost when Mitchell’s NDP swept the polls 15-0 in 1989, he could have walked away for good, but when called upon in 1994 with the SVLP/MNU merger which eventually gave birth to the Unity Labour Party, Beache rose to the occasion.

Many people, including Sir Vincent himself, may dispute in which capacity did he serve us best.

I’ll say that it is the field of Agriculture. Beache as Minister of Agriculture not only showed that he understood the farmers’ plight, but he worked harder than anyone else I know, to solve problems, and he assisted in lifting their standard of living.

He is in my view the best Agriculture Minister St. Vincent and the Grenadines has ever seen. He is also one of the few Vincentian politicians who understand that New York is not the only American city with a Vincentian Community.

Sir Vincent Ian Beache has given to us many years of dedicated service and we do appreciate it and wish him well.

Young Glen Beache says that he is his own man and he has every right to be. I do hope, however, that he brings a little piece of Sir Vincent with him – it would help.

Ken Wyllie

Philadelphia USA