BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Every effort is being made to ensure that Wednesday’s State Funeral goes according to schedule. A final dress rehearsal was completed today at Kensington oval and St. John’s Parish Church to ensure that all aspects of the service were fully synchronised.
A gun carriage, bearing the casket of the former prime minister, Hon. David Thompson will leave Downes and Wilson Funeral Home on Eagle Hall on Wednesday, November 3, at 8:25 a.m. The official procession will then travel along Eagle Hall, Barbarees Hill, turn at the corner of Westbury Road, proceed onto Westbury Road and President Kennedy Drive, before entering Kensington Oval via the northwest gate.
After the traditional funeral service, which is expected to last one and a half hours, the procession will journey from Kensington Oval via Eagle Hall, turn right at Bank Hall Cross Road, then left past Abundant Life Assembly, travel along Waterford and Waterford Bottom, turn right at the roundabout along the Barrow section of the ABC Highway, proceed to the Norman Niles Roundabout and then take a left turn at Salters junction.
The procession then travels to Charles Rowe Bridge, then left to the Glebe, Gun Hill, Newbury, Golden Ridge, Ashbury, Four Cross Roads, Pool, Small Hope and Gall Hill, St. John to St. John’s Parish Church for the private burial. Thousands of Barbadians, including some school children and visitors are expected to line these routes to catch a glimpse of the party and to bid farewell to this island’s sixth leader.
As a normal precaution, there will be security checks in operation at Kensington Oval. Metal detectors will be administered by members of the Royal Barbados Police Force. In addition, two medical stations manned by five doctors and 10 nurses will be in place, along with two ambulances and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s).
Wide screen projectors will be mounted near the two locations to allow as many persons to view the service and interment and it will also be carried live on television, locally and regionally.
