The body of former Trinidad & Tobago’s Prime Minister Basdeo Panday arrived at Piarco International Airport from Florida, USA, on a Caribbean Airlines flight just after 6.30 p.m. yesterday.
Panday, 90, Trinidad’s fifth Prime Minister, died on Monday, January 1, 2024, at a hospital in Florida where he had been receiving medical treatment since mid-December 2023. The former prime minister had suffered from heart ailments.
On arrival, the coffin was draped with the Trinidad and Tobago national flag by members of the Defence Force.
Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne was at the airport for the body’s arrival. He also greeted members of the Panday family, which included his wife, Oma, and daughter Mickela, who were on the flight that brought his body back home.
Panday’s body was placed in a white hearse, which was escorted by a police entourage to Dass Funeral Home, San Fernando.
The funeral of former prime minister Basdeo Panday will be held next Tuesday morning at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) in San Fernando.
Panday was born in St Julien Village, Princes Town, and attended primary and secondary schools in the southland.