I worked with Hon. Sir Lester Bryant Bird during the period 1984- 1991, when Antigua was regarded as an Economic Powerhouse by our Caribbean neighbours, and a dynamic center of business activity reaching out to North America, Europe, China and the Middle East.

Lester or ‘Deputy’ as he was affectionately called in those days, sadly bragged that he was the longest serving Deputy Prime Minister in the world, and should make the Guinness Book of Records.  His father, my friend, V.C. Bird held fast onto the reins of power to the very end!

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The Deputy was a dream to work with, he was endowed with a high intellect, a great conversationalist, knowledgeable in global politics, and an ability to think big!  Lester Bird used his American college connections and milieu to woo high-end global investors to Antigua & Barbuda, and used the invitations to hob-nob with the elite and invite them to Antigua.

On the ground his main implementation rested squarely on the able shoulders of Hon. Sir Hugh Marshall & Hon. Sir Robin Yearwood, and the administration rested with me handing over to teams of experts and the brilliant Weston brothers. Every critique by the international world was dealt with expeditiously.  They complained of the lack of Conference facilities so we contracted to build the Royal Antiguan Hotel with Conference facilitation for 300-500 persons.

Cruise ships wanted their own port with shopping, on which Antigua was fail graded, so Heritage Quay and the Port were built with grandiose plans for a waterfront, which was touted as ‘Star Wars’ so avant garde was the presentation!  Yachting was improved by the creation of the National Parks Authority with Canadian help. Meanwhile, Off-shore company registration and Off-shore Banking took off, and the world started flocking to Antigua, and Barbuda got its share.

Travelling extensively between the capitals of the world, Lester Bird and his colleagues, mostly Hugh Marshall, would bring back to this little island people and businesses which were new to the region, and exciting to establish. The island was very busy, money was flowing legitimately through universally accepted good practices.

And then all hell broke loose when the Israeli Guns in Colombia were discovered to have been sold through Antigua, and a member of the Bird family was implicated. Lester Bird was in the hottest seat as he balanced his family matters with the Matter of State which required explanations via Diplomatic Notes between the Governments of Colombia, Israel, USA, U.K. and ultimately the Bloom-Cooper Inquiry. The entire country stood firmly behind the ‘Deputy’ as he steered the ship of state through the muddy straits of an international investigation and the Bloom-Cooper Inquiry.

The halcyon days were over, and Camelot (as Lester Bird referred to those times) passed on to another era, which has caused much forgetfulness about that short but impacting period, when Antigua was an Economic Powerhouse!

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All who remember the ‘Deputy’ need to hear and understand one of his last wishes, where he apologized for limited thinking, which allowed a national asset – Airport lands- to be sold to the private sector, and, he requested the footprint of V. C. Bird International Airport be restored.

The time has come to ask the Knights of Sir Lester’s ‘Camelot’ to rise to the occasion and help their fellow Knight, now deceased, in the valiant act of preserving and protecting this very important asset of the people.

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