Bajans in Jamaica shocked

The death of Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson yesterday sent shock waves throughout the Barbadian community in Jamaica, even though most knew he was seriously ill.

"The whole community here is saddened by it," Zaynah King, president of the Barbados Students Association in Jamaica, told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

Kadira Carter, a student at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, said Thompson represented some of the changes Barbadians wanted to see in their homeland.

"It's just like an extra hit to know that we lost someone who many persons regard as one of our more sincere leaders," she said.

Echoing similar sentiments, King pointed out that Thompson implemented several initiatives which made things easier for students and parents.

Another Barbadian, Dwayne Worrell, said he was especially saddened by the fact that this is the third Barbadian prime minister to die while in office. Tom Allen and Errol Barrow were the other Barbadian prime ministers to die while in office.