The tenth anniversary of the death of Grenada's first Prime Minister, and Father of Independence, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was marked with a wreath laying ceremony on his tomb at the St. George's Centre Cemetery on August 23.

The Grenada Manual Maritime and Intellectual Workers Union (GMMIWU) took the initiative to remember their Founder, Sir Eric with the wreath-laying ceremony which was attended by the Union's President, Bert LaTouche and a small number of supporters of the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) which Sir Eric founded in 1950.

The wreath was laid by Gloria Payne-Banfield, one of two persons claiming to be the rightful Political Leader of the island's oldest labour party. In her address to the gathering, Payne-Banfield who lead the GULP at the 2003 General Elections, suggested that the wreath-laying ceremony should have been a national activity.

She called for the legacy of Sir Eric to be remembered indicating that as the Father of the Nation, Sir Eric did not only belong to GULP and  GMMIWU, but also to the nation. Payne-Banfield said that any honour or tribute to be paid to Sir Eric should be done nationally.

She recalled that Sir Eric was instrumental in starting a number of major local projects such as St. George's University which now provides jobs for a large number of Grenadians, and Caribbean Agro Industries. She issued a call for recognition to be given to the country's national heros.

According to Payne-Banfield, Grenada has already lost four Prime Ministers to death - Sir Eric Gairy, Maurice Bishop, Herbert Blaize and Ben Jones. She labelled them as national heros, but quickly added that there is no Hero's Day to recognise them.

Sir Eric led Grenada to independence in 1974 becoming Grenada's first Prime Minister. On March 13th, 1979 he was overthrown by the New Jewel Movement (NJM) of Maurice Bishop and remained in exile in the United States until 1983 following the collapse of the Grenada Revolution.

Bishop was assassinated in a bloody palace coup in 1983 while Blaize died in office in 1989 and Jones about two years ago. The GMMIWU President who also addressed the short ceremony that was held amidst some light drizzle, described Sir Eric as a great hero.

La Touche recalled the efforts made by Sir Eric to represent the working class of Grenada through the trade union movement and vowed to continue in the same vein. "Today the working class are seeing a lot of trouble and we have to continue the work that Sir Eric started, and to continue his legacy," he said.

La Touche's remarks can be interpreted as a clear attack on the policies of the governing New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.

The GMMIWU boss had supported the NNP over the GULP in the last three general elections on the island.