Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar says she is tru­ly sad­dened by the loss of Smith."As an avid read­er of his columns, I can say that Kei­th Smith was more than a jour­nal­ist...He was a na­tion­al icon," she said.

"He was born and raised in Laven­tille and, un­til his pass­ing, nev­er left his home­town, serv­ing as an in­spi­ra­tion and true mod­el for the youths of the area by show­ing them that hard work and per­se­ver­ance could pro­duce such a pow­er­ful pub­lic fig­ure."For­eign Af­fairs Min­is­ter Dr Su­ru­jrat­tan Ram­bachan said he ad­mired Smith for his con­vic­tion to im­prove, through his writ­ing, the life of Laven­til­lians, the com­mu­ni­ty which he nev­er left and to which he gave so much in­spi­ra­tion.