Funeral Arrangements made for Father of the Nation

GEorge Price

The nation’s first state funeral takes place next Monday; the details are being fleshed out between government officials and the Price family. Exactly one week after his passing, the Father of the Nation, Right Honorable George Price, will be laid to rest. The state funeral involves protocol and immense logistical details that will see the body of the iconic leader transported from Belize City to Belmopan.  Belmopan is not only the seat of the government where Price led the country, it is also the capital that he envisioned and built. After viewing in Belmopan, the body will be returned to the old capital where he lived. News Five’s Andrea Polanco has the details of the state funeral.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

According to the schedule, the national hero’s body will be taken from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Morgue on Saturday morning in a procession through the streets of Belize City.  The seven-thirty a.m. procession will be led by the Belize Defence Force to the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts, where the body will lie in state from eight a.m. to three p.m. for public viewing.

Thereafter, the People’s United Party event takes place. A service to celebrate his life will be held fittingly at the Holy Redeemer Cathedral where Price, a devout Catholic, practiced throughout his life walking from his house at three Pickstock Street to the Cathedral as a matter of routine on a daily basis. His nephew, Henry Charles Usher, will reportedly eulogize him. Arrangements are being made to bus in supporters from across the country who are clamoring to pay respects to the Leader Emeritus. Following the religious service, Price’s body will make its way to Belmopan pausing briefly at Independence Hall, the party headquarters. On Sunday, the former prime minister’s body will lie in state from eight a.m. to five p.m. at the George Price Center for Peace and Development, which opened its doors on Jan 15, 2004, on Price’s eighty fifth birthday. The final farewells will take place on Monday morning when Price’s body will be carried from the Centre by the B.D.F. to Independence Hill for the funeral service.  The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and Price’s nephew, Doctor John Waight, are expected to offer the official remembrances. The B.D.F. will transport the national hero in a closed hearse to the entrance of Belmopan. Thereafter, the casket will be transferred in open hearse to Belize City. A man of the people as well as a man for all seasons, Price will be interned at the Lord’s Ridge cemetery, according to his wishes.