Of Emancipation and George Chambers

THE EDITOR: On August 1, TT celebrates Emancipation Day. It was a historic moment when the declaration was made by then prime minister George Chambers in 1985.

But records at NALIS and elsewhere do not give Chambers the credit due for his decision to change Discovery Day to recognise the importance of Emancipation.

It is simply stated that the Government declared August 1 as a public holiday to commemorate Emancipation; this is utterly inadequate, when compared with the rightful recognition given to Basdeo Panday for his decision as prime minister, to declare Shouter Baptist Liberation Day, a public holiday.

Chambers deserves credit for listening and responding to the clarion calls from several quarters, including many of those who now comprise the Emancipation Support Committee, for a public holiday.

Through his ability to listen to diverse opinions, and his recognition of the merit of arguments proffered, Chambers propelled TT to the globally significant position of becoming the first country in the world to declare Emancipation Day as a public holiday.

It is indeed a great honour to recall that the country’s second prime minister also left his mark in several other major changes in TT.

He was the one who named the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex and the Eric Williams Financial Complex, in recognition of his predecessor who served as our first and only Chief Minister and then first prime minister.

Under Chambers’s tenure, Princess Margaret Highway was renamed the Uriah Butler Highway, in recognition of Butler’s contribution to the labour movement and workers’ rights. This was a logical consequence to the recognition bestowed on the Labour leader by Dr Williams, who declared June 19, as a public holiday.

Under Chambers’s leadership, deserving recognition was bestowed on Audrey Jeffers for her dedication and service in laying the foundation in social work and community development, with the naming of a highway after her.

Another Labour leader, "Cola" Rienzi, along with a former San Fernando mayor Gertrude Kirton, were also honoured with the joint naming of a major road in San Fernando after them.

Tobago was not left out with the recognition of boxer Claude Noel, after he won the WBA World title in the lightweight category.

That George Chambers set TT on the international stage as the first country to declare Emancipation Day a holiday is significant. Arguably, just as significant was his determination to embed our history into the everyday world around us, by renaming/naming highways and buildings after deserving daughters and sons of the soil. Perhaps it is time for a similar honour to be bestowed on him.

ASHTON FORD

Former Arima MP

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"Of Emancipation and George Chambers"

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