by Linda Straker
- GNRC recommends Government rename several streets, schools, and other landmarks
- Identified for renaming are Melville Street, Depradine Street and Sendall Tunnel
- Prime Minister Mitchell said recommendations will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration
Arley Gill, Chairman of the Grenada National Reparations Committee (GNRC), has recommended that Government rename several streets, schools, and other landmarks as part of the 50th Independence Celebrations in 2024.
“The government of Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell will consider a request from the Grenada National Reparations Committee (GNRC) to rename ‘streets and other important areas to accurately reflect our history and heritage’ as part of the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence celebrations in 2024,” said a news release from the Committee.
The request is contained in a letter signed by its chairman Arley Gill and addressed to Prime Minister Mitchell. “For the most of our history, our streets, hospitals, and schools have honoured and memorialised individuals that contributed very little and, more often than not, nothing to Grenadian life,” the release argues.
“Historical research shows that many of the individuals that we commemorate, and honour were involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade or were direct beneficiaries of the slave trade,” said Gill, who is a former Minister for Culture.
He suggested to the Prime Minister that there’s a need to “establish a post-independence monumental landscape to be reflective of who we are as a people, what we want to be as a people, and to inspire future generations of Grenadians to see themselves as one day being part of our national landscape.”
In a response signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kim Frederick thanked Gill for the recommendations. Prime Minister Mitchell told Gill that recommendations will be submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration.
Gill who has over the years called for 19 October to be named as National Heroes Day, said that ensuring accurate historical representation in public places has become a “matter that has garnered regional and global attention in recent years.”
Referring to Barbados and the relocating of the Lord Nelson statue that “rightfully belonged in a museum and not in a public square,” Gill who is Grenada’s current Ambassador to Caricom said, “The landscape of monuments in Grenada now is “more representative of the 18th and 19th centuries.”
“GNRC strongly believes that the time has come to identify and amplify the lives and memories of outstanding nationals, who made valiant contributions to Grenada’s civilisation,” he said.
Among the streets identified for renaming are Melville Street in St George’s and Depradine Street in Gouyave, St John; as well as Sendall Tunnel.
I am somewhat surprised by the number of comments negative to Mr Gill’s recommendations history will not change if we change names but it’s important that we as a people create our own history so now I think it is important for us to do so and this too is history we now need to honor the people that we can relate too who made important contributions in this time and name things after them it is also important to show that we have come to a realization that those things were not name to glorify us but those who name it at the time they did so come on let us glorify the one who has made meaningful contributions in our time as this is our history too.
We should be proud of our history not ashamed of it. For example Grenada was French then British then French then British etc. It is important that our history in terms of historical places reflect this.
It is said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That is why we should not Erase History from our environment and society because without it we don’t know who we are and where we come from. I know it’s true that what happened in the past was wrong and it should not be praised but at the same time without we would have no idea as to how we came so far. Same thing goes for Confederate Flags and Statues in America. Slave Trader Statues in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe and most of all those who held a very colonial slave trade past. Without knowing who they are we we wouldn’t have known what they have done. If we renamed the Sendall Tunnel. We wouldn’t know who would have built it. The past is the past but at the same time if we don’t remember it, it will come to repeat itself again.
Now you can change the names to the new colonial master, the Chinese!
Hello all i want to fo is recycle – glass and plastic. When are we going to prioritize that?
Don’t complicate the issue with common sense Princess. That don’t work in Grenada!
You can remove all the names you like, tare down all the historical statues…….
how the hell do you think that, that changes history.
You just deny the Grenadian people to learn and understand your history, good or bad, it is what it is.
You teach the children to learn from the mistakes of the past.
So if you want to change names as they may be deemed offensive to some.
The you should rip up all the roads, the sewers, tear down the forts etc.as they must be offensive to.
Lets do it properly, erase your colonial past completely.. What is it going to change nothing……but I think you like all the infrastructure that was put into these islands.
Don’t see you taring all that down along with renaming a street.
Hey! Its about time. However, such undertaking should be the wishes of the people. Please do not politicize this move we already have enough political activities in this country.
Rubbish. This is (again) another attempt to erase our historical past. What happens when you change the names? Where is the historical narrative then? Gone of course. And what is the end result: a historical vacuum, no doubt! Again, these attempts to erase our historical past are rediculous because we ourselves are here because of our historical past. Urhhh.
I support change but right now we should be talking about making the healthcare system better..covid is an invisible enemy..so you all have not heard of 2nd and 3rd wave..In the current economic situation this little money could be put to better use.
Isn’t Sendall Tunnel named for the Engineer who created it. If so it should not be renamed as this was quite the engineering feat.
It was named after the Governor of the time. To be honest all this B.S about rename this and that is so annoying. History is what it is history and we as a people need to know where we came from and where we are going. changing the name of a street aint going to change the price of sugar. every aspect of our lives are granted to us as a result of history! we are a product of that.
Johnson Beharry Tunnel? WALOB
Why MELVILLE and not LUCAS. Then too we may have to rename Morne Jaloux, Grand Mal, and Bousejour, we may have to rename Grenada too.
There are many buildings places and roads on which we can put the names of our National Heroes.
How many Grenadian national heroes can you think of? LMBO.