Friday 23, December, 2016
Statement By Dr. Denzil Douglas:
Late last night I received the sad news from a senior official of the Government of St Lucia that Sir Dwight Venner had passed away moments earlier.
He was only seventy years.
And what stands out for me during his lifetime of regional public service is the Leadership he provided to the region as the distinguished Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank(ECCB) from 1989 until his retirement in 2015.
These were the years that he lived among us here in St Kitts and Nevis, embraced by our warm hospitality and from Basseterre provided leadership and guidance in monetary, economic and financial policies that sustained the Eastern Caribbean Currency/Dollar as the strongest soundest and most stable in the entire Caribbean region.
It was from here in Basseterre that he championed the cause of the indigenous banking sector and pursued a path to ensure the survivability of too many small banks through one of the worst global financial and economic crises in modern history. Though very conscious that it couldn’t be business as usual as we survived the crisis in global banking as a most severe exogenous shock to a highly vulnerable, highly indebted middle income and low income region, he was certain, even at the point of being defiant, that the Caribbean with its peculiar historical colonial construct needed the indigenous banking sector though reformed with amalgamations of branches in the North and South of the Eastern Caribbean chain and with the help of the international financial institutions(IFIs) and the international community friendly to the Caribbean region.
It was from Basseterre that we observed the growth and blossoming of one of the region’s finest academic and intellectual, as he championed the Monetary Council to develop practical and implementable strategies to tackle the high indebtedness, negative and anaemic growth, high unemployment, high fossil energy costs, unreliable and costly regional travel all of which impacted on our sustainable development as a region and our faltering efforts to find practical solutions for our social and economic ills.
I will always remember him and infact we shall always remember him for responding to the call for regional duty and service in Basseterre with his family at home in St Lucia.
And those were the sentiments I expressed when I called his dear wife Linda last night to convey condolences on behalf of the Parliamentary Opposition, the SKNLP and myself who had served with him as Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Member of the Monetary Council and Chair of various Sub-Committees for almost twenty years.
Our currency is stronger, the ECCB is on a sounder foundation to consolidate and expand, the economic prospects are brighter and our people are imbued with more progressive ideas and impetus to face a challenging future as a result of his life efforts and service.
May his Soul rest in Eternal Peace and rise in Glory in the final calling.
Rt Hon Dr Denzil L Douglas
