Congratulates the Elderly for Their Contribution in Building the Nation
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams closed off the Emancipation Day activities by attending the Voices Ancestors Emancipation Day Celebration held at the Emilio Wilson Park. The Prime Minister made very brief comments in which she encouraged those in attendance to realize the importance the ancestors of the St. Maarten people played in building St. Maarten and to use that strength in moving St. Maarten forward.
"I think it is so fitting to have this event here on the Emilio Wilson Estate. It was 150 years ago that slavery was abolished yet it is on this Estate, under the blooming Flamboyant or July tree as we like to call them, that it seems shorter than 150 years because History seems much closer by as we walk these grounds.
"This Ancestral Day Celebration only shows how strong we are and shows that we have persevered through the spirit of our ancestors. And it is also therefore good to recognize the presence of our Senior Citizens that are here with us today; this must be a wonderful occasion for you as you reminisce and recall your contribution to St. Maarten. It is truly a celebration as we recognize how we have grown as a nation and as a people from strength to strength. Days like today when we look back for just a brief moment and recognize from where we have come and as Voices like to put it that we have indeed come from greatness and indeed great we are. If we as a people exercise this realization it is a wonderful way to close off this celebration as we continue to grow from strength to strength and as our national motto says Semper Pro Gradiens: always moving forward.