| September 14,
2007: The prime minister's office in St. Kitts has
announced plans for the inauguration of the monument to
Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw on September 16, as one of the
highlights of this year’s 24th Anniversary of Independence.
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil
Llewellyn Douglas said the Bradshaw Memorial Park is being
prepared in St. Paul’s, birthplace of Bradshaw, who
dominated the political scene in St. Kitts-Nevis and
Anguilla and the Caribbean for several decades serving as
Chief Minister and Premier of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla and
Minister of Finance of the West Indies Federation. In his
statement the Prime Minister did not refer to the neglect
and suppression of Anguilla during Bradshaw's reign when
according to many, he promised to turn the island into a
desert.
“We would like to thank the President of Cuba, His
Excellency Dr. Fidel Castro and the People of Cuba for this
very generous donation of this monument to mark the life and
work and the 90th year of the birth of our great National
Hero,” said Prime Minister Douglas at a Press Conference.
Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw was born at St. Paul’s Village,
St. Kitts on the 16th September 1916 and died on May 23rd
1978. Regarded as the “Father of Independence,” Premier
Bradshaw had long been an advocate of independence for the
State of St. Kitts-Nevis and Anguilla. When his Labour Party
won all of the seats in St. Kitts in December 1975 with a
mandate to take the State into Independence, he conducted
independence talks with the United Kingdom Government in
London in 1976 and 1977. It was during his tenure as leader
of St. Kitts-Nevis and Anguilla, that Bradshaw saw Anguilla
declare independence and subsequently revert to colonial
status rather than be forced into an independent tri-island
federation under his rule.
The Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Memorial Park will be
located on 3.5 acres of land and will feature not only a
full size sculpture of the Federation’s First National Hero,
but also an Interpretation Centre which will be constructed
in the second phase.
St. Kitts can in no way be faulted for honouring Mr.
Bradshaw, after all, when Anguilla received international
funding for a Pier to be built on the island, Bradshaw
ensured the "Anguilla Pier" was built, in Sandy
Point, St. Kitts. |
