Following are remarks delivered by the Mayor of Castries, Peterson Francis, at the Saint Lucia CARICOM Reparations Youth Rally on Derek Walcott Square on Saturday, October 29, 2016
Citizens of Castries, Visitors, Saint Lucians all,
I welcome you in the name of the Castries City Council to Derek Walcott Square. I welcome you to the centre of our capital city to a square that has its own unique history.
I wish on behalf of the Council to also welcome to our capital city the delegation from the CARICOM Secretariat, which is here to assist in making today’s activity a success.
I especially welcome to our city Dr. Hilary Browne, the Programme Manager for Culture and Community Relations at the CARICOM Secretariat.
We welcome Dr. Brown and her delegation, and everyone else here this afternoon — and also those of you listening by radio and watching on your TV, as I understand this programme is also being broadcast live.
This means it is going to more people than those here at any moment, as it is being seen in homes and heard on radio, not only here but also abroad.
We also want to acknowledge the role of the Government of Saint Lucia in making this and other Reparations activities possible.
I especially support the decision by the Ministry of Education to facilitate the Reparations Lectures at the island’s secondary schools.
This Reparations issue is one we have a lot to learn about as there are more questions than answers. That is why, therefore, it is important to have activities like this all year round to provide answers to everybody’s questions.
I understand that you have a long programme this afternoon, so I will be both short and brief.
I wish the organizers well and we at the CCC were glad to cooperate with the National Reparations Committee (NRC) to facilitate this first such rally on Derek Walcott Square.
Once again, welcome to Castries, your and our capital city.
I thank you.
