Nevisians Urged To Celebrate Independence Day

Nevis Premier – Independence Day 2008

Charlestown, Nevis
September 13, 2012

Permanent Secretary in the Premier’s Ministry in the Nevis Island Administration Mrs. Joslyn Liburd invited members of the public to join the celebration of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis’ 29th anniversary of Independence.

The request came in an interview with the Department of Information on September 13th, 2012 while she outlined the official plans on Nevis for the upcoming milestone under the theme “Cherishing Children, Strengthening Families”.  It is being used in an effort to draw greater attention to the issues affecting children and families in the Federation.

“As we are all aware, Wednesday the 19th is the actual day of Independence and the parade is usually the highlight of the celebration. It begins at 8 o’clock sharp and we are inviting the general public to come out in honour of the 29th anniversary of Independence.

“Please be on time, especially the persons who are participating – the uniform bodies – because we would like everyone to be in place by 8 o’clock. We would like not to have interruptions once it begins with persons coming on to the field because it causes some disruption. So we are encouraging people to come out very early so that the parade could go on smoothly,” she said.

According to the Permanent Secretary, apart from the usual parade 17 persons would be presented with the Independence Awards for their contribution to the development of Nevis in various fields of endeavour.

However, in an invited response she pointed out that although the islands faced economic issues, the awards for deserving persons would not be put on hold.

“We cannot ever not afford to honour persons because they are an important part of this nation. They have built this nation and they continue to build the nation and so we cannot at any time, not honour persons on Independence,” she said.

Meantime, Mrs. Liburd also spoke to other activities that would commemorate the 29th anniversary of Independence.

“This year we have the drag race which is on National Heroes Day, the Sunday, and on Monday 17th we have Horseracing.  So those are two of the public activities the public is also being encouraged to go to.

“This year National Heroes Day is the 16th of September and this year it falls on a Sunday, so the holiday would be on the Monday the 17th. [Therefore] all schools all businesses will be closed on that day. The Independence is Wednesday the 19th and that day is also a holiday…,” she explained.

Regarding the schools, Mrs. Liburd added that they too would celebrate the anniversary with Patriotic Programmes leading up to Independence Day.

“As always we have patriotic programmes and persons from different walks of life would go to the schools and talk about things pertaining to the Federation and the importance of our independence.

“It also helps children to ask questions because most of them might not have been around when we did become independent in 1983. So it’s to inform them and to keep them informed always of their independence,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary also noted that the members of the Cadet Corp from Nevis would journey to St. Kitts on September 14, 2012 to participate in the Band Drill Parade.