Glynis Roberts, the NDC Member of Parliament, says she is looking forward to the government’s naming of monuments and buildings after Grenadian national heroes.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, speaking at this year’s 34th Anniversary of Independence celebrations, said the unveiling of the names will be done within the next several months.
However, in one of the major announcement at the celebrations, Dr. Mitchell said former Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy was being conferred the honour of being Grenada’s First National Hero.
Roberts, who attended the Independence event at the National Stadium, welcomed the honour bestowed on Gairy by a committee, of which she was a member.
“Having sat on that committee, I am happy with that. But I’m looking forward to when we would name the international airport after former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, and the Lauriston Airport in Carriacou after former Prime Minister Herbert Blaize,” said Roberts, the MP for St. George South.
Roberts, commenting on the 2008 celebrations as a whole, said it could have been enhanced, suggesting that in the future there should earlier planning, as well as a series of parish activities leading up to Independence Day.
“I think we need to have more participation from the various parishes and we need to do a build up to Independence by having activities in the parishes,” Roberts suggested. She also would like to see more youth involvement in the observance of Grenada’s Independence.
“We need to get our young people to be a part of the event so that they can understand the history and how Independence came about,” said the opposition National Democratic Congress MP.
The parish activities and the increased involvement of youth are part of what ought to be a package, which would also take into account the personnel doing live coverage of the Independence celebrations, said Robert.
She contends that having persons who are “versed in what’s actually happening on the day” would avoid some of the live coverage “blunders” that marked the reporting of the celebrations this year.
“We have to look at Independence as something national and use it as a means of bringing our people together to celebrate,” Roberts said. “You want a package that is perfect so that we can bring that true spirit of Independence not only nationwide, but that our nationals who live abroad could also be a part of the celebration.”
