OECS: THE FOUNDERS TV SERIES
Episode 3 featuring Sir James Mitchell
The Right Hon. Sir James Mitchell, former Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is the featured personality in the third part of the television documentary series, THE OECS: THE FOUNDERS which is being broadcast on television in the OECS and available on the OECS Website.
The series was commissioned in observance of the 35th anniversary of the OECS on 18th June this year and is produced and presented by Earl Stephen Huntley of the West Indies Media Corporation (WIMEDIA).
Director General of the OECS, Dr. Didacus Jules, commended the initiative which gives a unique insight into the early years of the Organisation.
“We are proud to present this docuseries to the public which examines the rich history and socio-political climate within which the OECS was formed.
“The successes the OECS has achieved over the years is testament to the far reaching vision and foundation laid by The Founders and we are fortunate to have been able to capture their unique insights for many generations to come” said Dr. Jules.
The series features interviews with five of the Prime Ministers and Secretariat Officials who were either on the Authority of OECS or at the helm of its Secretariat during the founding years, with each programme devoted to one of the Founders.
In the third programme, Sir James, who was the prime mover behind an initiative in 1986, for a political union of the member states of the OECS, gives his views on why the move failed.
Sir James served on the Authority of the OECS from 1984 to 2000. An Agronomist by profession, from the Grenadine island of Bequia, Sir James first entered politics in 1966 when he won a Parliamentary seat for the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Labour Party. In 1975 he formed the New Democratic Party and was the leader of the opposition from then until his NDP won the 1984 general elections. As Prime Minister, he went on to win three more successive general elections until his retirement in 2000.
The first two programmes in the OECS Founders Series have been about Sir Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda and Sir Kennedy Simmonds of St. Kitts and Nevis and have revealed little known but fascinating historical information on the first five years of the OECS.
The programmes will be aired regionally through a variety of broadcast mediums. Persons are encouraged to check their local television station listings to tune in. The series can also be viewed on the OECS Website by clicking here: http://www.oecs.org/index.php/homepage/history
The pilot broadcast on NTN (St. Lucia) can be viewed at 9:00pm on Mondays with rebroadcasts on Tuesdays (9:00am and 3:00pm), Saturdays (8:00pm) and Sundays (12:00pm).
