As Government presses ahead with plans to create community tourism villages across the island, Minister with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munroe Knight, believes that the Rock Hall Freedom Park is an example of that concept.
Speaking during a site tour, along with officials from the Division of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport and other government agencies today, the Minister described it as an “exemplar” of community tourism and pointed to the importance of community involvement.
“One of the distinct things about the Rock Hall Freedom Park project, has been the involvement of the Rock Hall community. And I think that is critical because I’ve been continuing to say that for us the Rock Hall Freedom Village is really going to be an exemplar for how we do community tourism and that there has been an investment in making sure that we continually bring the Rock Hall community along with us,” Senator Dr. Munro-Knight underlined.
She continued: “All of the shops that we would have seen on the site we’ve made sure that those belong to people within St. Thomas. The artisans that have worked here have come from within St. Thomas and from within the community. We are going to be as responsive as we can to the community…”
The Minister said the project could be the “Oistins for this part of the island”, adding that “we can see the build out of national tours, heritage tours, linking Harrison’s Cave and all the other environs around here”.
Mrs. Munro-Knight also emphasised the importance of collaboration with other government agencies on the project for its future success.
“The building out of the Rock Hall Freedom Park for the Division of Culture is really about partnerships. We recognise that the vision for this cannot just only lie with the Division of Culture. This is intended to be a multifunctional, national cultural heritage product.
“And if we want to talk about national, it means then that we must involve all of the critical players, and certainly, we welcome the participation from the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, NCC, Sanitation, our partners from the Ministry of Youth Sports and Community Development as well, because they all are going to play a critical part,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, said the development of community tourism villages was one of the “big agenda items” for the administration.
She added that the project was an example of “how we could treat to community tourism villages developing all across the country”.
The Minister gave the assurance that the tourism team would continue to market the destination and activities for visitors where they can “come and learn about the history of our people, where they came from and what this location represents to our people and to this community”.
The second phase of the project, which will feature an amphitheatre, a water feature and other components, will be officially launched on Sunday, May 15, with a heritage fair. The activities will also tie in with the Season of Emancipation, which officially gets under way from April 14.