BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BUXTONIANS among the Guyanese community in St. Kitts and Nevis have joined with their East Coast Demerara villagers and others in Guyana as well as in the Diaspora to mourn the passing of former Deputy Prime Minister Haslyn Parris.
News reaching SKNVibes states that Parris died yesterday afternoon (Mar. 28) following an aneurysm on the previous night at his home in Buxton on the eastern corridor of the capital city, Georgetown.
Defined by Dictionary.com, “Aneurysm is a sac formed by abnormal dilation of the weakened wall of a blood vessel.”
According to the Buxton-Friendship Express, the 75-year-old Parris was rushed to a city private hospital for emergency surgery but succumbed to his ailment at about 1:00 p.m.
Speaking with this publication, President of the St. Kitts Chapter of the Guyanese Association, Mark Moses expressed disbelief at the sudden passing of his cousin, noting that “Parris was among the many scholars who were role models to the young men and women within the Buxton-Friendship community”.
Moses explained that the former Deputy Prime Minister in the People’s National Congress Government, like Eusi Kwayana, had always found time during his busy schedules to sit and educate members of that community about their ancestry and the village’s historic relevance to the development of Guyana.
In paying brief tribute to Parris, President David Granger hailed the late politician and academic as a “distinguished Guyanese” who has “made tremendous contributions throughout his life as a very young man to the present time”.
“His intellect and his public service are well-recognised and we certainly would miss him,” the President added.
Reportedly, Parris served his country as Deputy Chair of the State Planning Commission and also as a Commissioner on the Guyana Elections Commission, as well as a member of the Constitution Reform Commission.
According to Kaieteur News, his career encompassed the positions of Mathematics Teacher at Queen’s College from 1962 to 1963; Senior Economist at the Central Bank of Guyana from 1967 to 1969; Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Guyana from 1969 to 1971; Chief Executive Officer, Guybau and subsequently Guymine from 1971 to 1981; Chairman of Guyconstruct from 1976 to 1980; Chairman of the Bauxite Industry Development Company, BIDCO from 1982 to 1983; and Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Planning and Development from 1984 to1991.
After demitting office as Deputy Prime Minister at the age of 50 on May 1, 1991 and been the recipient of several academic and other awards, the most prestigious being the National Award – Cacique’s Crown of Honour in 1980, the Buxtonian opted for a private life in the private sector as an author and a consultant.
Kaieteur News also reported that more recently, Parris was involved in the negotiations leading to the Herdmanston Accord (17 Jan 1998); the Constitution Reform Commission of which he was Secretary (1999); the Oversight Committee on Constitutional Reform (1999/2000) as Coordinator; and the Guyana Elections Commission (2001) as a Commissioner.
The late William Haslyn Parris had written several books since 1991 – Bunaro, which is a set of essays on economic development with relevance to Guyana; two volumes of thought-provoking essays entitled ‘Some (and then some more) of my favourite Heresies’; two volumes of short stories entitled ‘Ribald tales of Guyana’; and ‘The Constitution of Guyana – What will it Look Like????’.
