Former education minister Carlton Gomes to be buried today

FORMER PNM Education Minister Carlton Gomes died peacefully last Tuesday morning at his Savannah Drive, Tacarigua home.

Gomes’s wife Ursula Gomes told Newsday her husband died peacefully and had asked for her at the time of his death, around 8.40 am. At the time she was in San Fernando where she works. Gomes was being looked after by a caregiver. She said Gomes had been ailing for the last three months from colon cancer. He was 75 years. He will be buried today at the La Brea public cemetery after a 10 am church service at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Harris Promenade, San Fernando. Gomes, a member of the PNM, was a former teacher before entering politics. He was a former Member of Parliament for San Juan West and served in several capacities under the late Dr Eric Williams.

Among the posts he held were Minister of Education from 1970 to 1976, a Senator and Parliamentary Secretary to Dr Williams with specific responsibility for public relations and general information from 1969-1970. In that capacity he also accompanied Dr Williams on several business trips abroad. He was also a former High Commissioner to Jamaica in the 1980s. He leaves to mourn his four children: Kenneth, Keith, Kasey and Kathy-Ann, grandchildren Raquel, Rebecca and Keith, as well as one brother and five sisters. Expressing condolences on behalf of the Government in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said Gomes had been a mentor to him when he entered politics in 1971 and was someone to whom he could always turn to for advice. Manning added that the country’s political life had been enriched by Gomes’ contribution both within the ranks of the PNM and at the level of government.

Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh expressed condolences on Gomes’ passing on behalf of the UNC but cheekily noted that in Gomes’ later years, he had become aligned to the now defunct Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR). Singh said Gomes realised that the PNM had strayed from the course charted by its founder Dr Eric Williams and had “seen the wisdom of abandoing the PNM”. House Speaker Barry Sinanan then called for the Lower House to observe a minute’s silence in Gomes’ memory.