BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 21ST 2014 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has hailed the mushrooming of the St. Kitts Eco-Park from the former canefields as a “transformation more striking than the centuries of centipedes sending panic into the hearts of the sugar cane workers.”
Speaking at the official opening of the multi-million dollar tourism attraction, Prime Minister Douglas took invited guests back to the period when the razor sharp cane blades sliced into their flesh for centuries on end.
“The forced and unrelenting labour from can’t-see in the morning, until can’t-see in the night and the utterly uncompensated, unrewarded nature of it all which has now been transformed into a place in which, with gentle care and informed discipline, the descendants of those same cane workers now rear, and tend, and bring to us all, delicate and exquisite orchids bright and joyous gerbers, round and irrepressible desert roses. And an abundance of tropical fruit,” noted Prime Minister Douglas, who asked: “Can there be any more radical change than the children and grandchildren of sugar cane workers mounting an exquisite art exhibit, on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, right here on former cane-lands, within sight of Mt. Liamuiga?”
Prime Minister Douglas added that it was most significant that the location of the Eco-Park is so long haunted by the harshest of divisions.
“Divisions between human beings who, though living on the same island, were rent apart by race and opportunity, in this same place, the Government and people of this country have created a magnificent symbol of human understanding and cooperation. We have presented powerful evidence that positive and constructive spirits can overcome the barriers of distance, the barriers of culture, the barriers of origin,” said Dr. Douglas, who further noted that two very different peoples, from very different parts of the globe, with vastly different histories, have come together to create a work of great beauty.
He described the St. Kitts Eco-Park as space of great value.
“It is a facility that captures and demonstrates the interconnected nature of this Government’s wide-ranging priorities, and the ways in which, through vision and discipline, these activities can be interwoven and brought together for the good of us all,” Prime Minister Douglas told invited guests including His Excellency the Governor General His Excellency Sir Edmund Lawrence and Lady Lawrence; Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin; Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Patrice Nisbett; Minister of Agriculture, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty; Speaker of the National Assembly, the Hon. Curtis Martin; Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps; Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Band (ECCB), Sir K. Dwight Venner and President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Mr. Damion Hobson.
He called on the invited guests to applaud the Government of the China (Taiwan) for the real changes that his Government has been able to bring to the Federation in general, and to this particular spot in particular.
“I ask that you join me in a well-deserved round of applause for the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan: our most committed and fully involved partner in this project, from the moment of its conception until this very moment of its opening. Most of all, I ask that you give an enthusiastic round of applause for His Excellency Ambassador Miguel Tsao,” said Dr. Douglas, who pointed out that the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that the Ambassador Tsao brought to this project was nothing short of extraordinary – and it will live in our hearts forever.
He also thanked Mrs. Tsao and the entire Embassy staff for the enthusiasm that they unfailing demonstrated toward the project.
