By Daven Joseph

Over the past two weeks, Antigua and Barbuda buried two of its great public servants.

The first to be buried was Mr. Philbert “Phil” “Sammy” Mason, our senior meteorologist for 34 years. He was the voice every Antiguan waited for when a storm formed. During Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Luis in 1995, his forecasts and his insistence on early warnings helped the country avoid catastrophic loss of life across Antigua and Barbuda. He retired not so quietly. He died quietly. He received no official funeral.

I knew Phil well. We both studied at the University of the West Indies. From those UWI days until the end of his life, we remained great friends. I saw his discipline. In September 1995, as Luis approached, I visited the Met Office. The building was shaking. Phil was there with two junior officers. He had maps spread across the table, phones ringing and ABS Radio on hold. He looked up and said, “Daven you need to go home now, we have six hours to get people out of low lying and flood prone areas.” He was right. His warning got them out. His service was not political. It was national.

Days later, we buried Dr. Cuthrin “Cuttring” Lake, former Medical Director of Holberton Hospital the predecessor to the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre. A surgeon and administrator, Dr. Lake served during those challenging times when it was so hard to find medical surgeons in Antigua. The hospital was underfunded. Equipment was old. But he stayed. He trained young doctors. He operated through blackouts. He kept the hospital running with skill and grit. The State accorded him an official funeral, with police outriders, a Defence Force presence and the flag at half-mast.

Even before I personally met Dr. Lake, I had heard of his great service to Holberton Hospital and to this country. His reputation preceded him. I met him in 1996 through our mutual friend, the late Sir Frederick Ballantyne, former Governor-General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Sir Frederick had come to Antigua for medical treatment. Dr. Lake was his physician at Holberton. From that day until Dr. Lake’s passing, we greeted each other with warmth and mutual respect. I admired his service during Holberton’s most difficult years. I admired his humility. He never sought the spotlight. He sought results.

Both men saved Antiguan lives. Both shaped our national development. That they were buried within days of each other over the past two weeks and honoured differently by the State exposes a gap in our rules. One we should close now, with compassion and clarity.

1. STATE FUNERAL VS OFFICIAL FUNERAL: WHAT’S THE LAW AND WHAT’S FAIR?

At present, Antigua and Barbuda has no published statute defining these honours. We operate by convention, inherited from Westminster practice but never codified.

1. State Funeral is reserved for sitting Heads of State, Prime Ministers, and Governors-General. It involves full military honours, lying-in-state at Parliament or Government House and a period of national mourning.

2. Official Funeral is broader and looser. It is granted by Cabinet, usually to sitting or former parliamentarians, ministers, and speakers. Occasionally it has been extended to distinguished citizens outside politics doctors, artists, sportsmen. The State covers costs and provides police and Defence Force participation. But there is no written list of who qualifies.

The absence of a written policy is the core issue. In Britain, the Earl Marshal and the College of Arms advise on ceremonial. In Canada, there are published guidelines. In Barbados, the Cabinet Office issued a National Honours Protocol in 2018.

We have none. So when Cabinet decides, it decides alone, and the public cannot see the reasoning.

Because our criteria are unwritten, decisions look ad hoc. When two heroes are buried in the same fortnight and treated differently, it is sending a confusing and misleading message to their families and the general public. It tells the Met Office staff that their work is less valued than a minister’s. It tells nurses at Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre that their chief is honoured, but the man who warned the island to evacuate is not.

The honour of an official funeral must be fairly handled. If Dr. Lake is deserving of an official funeral, and he most certainly was, then Mr. Philbert Mason, my friend and our nation’s meteorologist, whose forecasts and public education campaigns saved lives across Antigua and Barbuda in Hugo and Luis, is also deserving.

Fairness demands a system, not selective goodwill. I am sure that Dr. Lake and also Mr. Mason would have agreed with me on this. Both were modest men. Both believed in service over ceremony. But both would have wanted the same rules for everyone.

To both families, to Dr. Lake’s colleagues from Holberton, and to the Met Office staff who served with Phil: you have my deepest sympathy and my unqualified respect for their legacies. My call for reform takes nothing from either man’s honour. It asks that we build a framework that would have honoured both automatically, without controversy, especially when their funerals fell within days of each other over the past two weeks.

This Matters now because Nations are built on memory. When we honour Dr. Cuthrin Lake, we tell every young doctor that their sleepless nights at Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre mattered. We tell them that when you stitch a wound at 3 a.m. during a hurricane, the country will remember. When we forget my friend Phil Mason — buried in the same two weeks — we tell every meteorologist, every nurse, every teacher, every coast guard officer that even though you heroically put your life at risk to save others’ lives, the State may not see you.

That is a dangerous message for a small island state. We depend on public servants who go beyond their job descriptions. We depend on the nurse who stays through the storm. We depend on the Met officer who doesn’t sleep. We depend on the fire officer who runs into the building. If we only honour political office, we shrink the meaning of service.

We are a small country. Our heroes are not distant. They are our classmates, our neighbours. They drove us to hospital in ambulances. They told us when to board up across Antigua and Barbuda. They taught our children. They flew the medevac. A transparent system ensures we see them all.

Let us thank Dr. Cuthrin Lake properly, without apology. He earned that funeral. Let us also ensure that the next Philbert Mason is thanked while his wife, his children, and his colleagues can hear it. Gratitude delayed is gratitude denied.

Our heroes deserve a system that is fair, transparent, and worthy of them. The time to build it is now. I call on the Government and the Opposition to work together, publish draft criteria, and pass a National Honours and Funerals Policy expediously. Let the next hero be honoured by established protocols and without fear or favor.

The views expressed are those of the author and not the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

Daven Joseph is a businessman, the country’s Development Commissioner, former parliamentarian, former senator, and current Ambassador.