Prime Minister Freundel Stuart (2nd from right) looks on as Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley (right), greets Chairperson of the Barbados World Heritage Committee, Mark Cummins (left). Director of the Museum, Alissandra Cummins (2nd from left) looks on. (C. Pitt/BGIS)

The Ministry of Culture will be looking very closely at establishing historic tours of Bridgetown, with young people as tour guides.

Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, made this disclosure yesterday following a guided tour of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison by Professors Pedro Welch and Henry Fraser. Those on tour included Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Chairperson of the Barbados World Heritage Committee, Mark Cummins, and several persons from the public and private sectors. ?????? ??????????????

??Mr. Lashley said: "I think the story about Bridgetown should be told by our young people, who can establish businesses and that is one of the things I am very keen on doing…"

Describing Bridgetown as a jewel with a rich history which Barbadians should become familiar with, he expressed the view that more must be done to preserve historic buildings.

The Minister is confident that Barbados will gain inscription on the World Heritage List when the meeting is held in Bahrain later this year. "This kind of history has so many linkages, not only in relation to the Caribbean, but so many linkages in relation to historic Bridgetown and the Garrison and North America and Europe and so on.?? Bridgetown has been a centre for enterprise and commercial activity throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and there are so many countries across the world with which we have ancestral relations, so designating Bridgetown and its Garrison area as a heritage site offers something to the world’s heritage.

"We have something to offer and because of that, the organisational structure that has been established and the people who are involved in this project, all of us are very optimistic that the designation will be granted and it gives us work to do in terms of ensuring that we preserve what we have offered to the world as an historic heritage location," he stated.

Mr. Lashley maintained that the designation of Bridgetown as a World Heritage Site would help the tourism industry, as well as strengthen the younger generation’s historical perspective of Barbados.

saustin@barbados.gov.bb

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