It is an honour and a privilege once again to welcome you all to Fox Hill.  I want to thank my colleague the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe, the Minister of Tourism for his support of this effort toward boosting the tourist potential in Fox Hill.  I wish also at the outset to thank the organizers of this event led by my cousin Janet Johnson and her team of experts.

It is also a special honour to welcome the Bahamian experts who will sit on this panel tonight, and also the expert from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. who will be one of the lead presenters.

Of course, I pay my respects to the citizens of the Fox Hill Village whose history and pride we are saluting this evening.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you know this is a reprise of the previous public meeting that the Ministry of Tourism sponsored in this village earlier in this year.  I asked the Ministry if it were possible to work with the Fox Hill Festival Committee with a view to repeating the effort at this time of year so that when Fox Hillians are at the height of their interest in their history the matter might be brought to the attention of the country at large.  The Festival Committee was gracious enough to invite the Ministry here tonight.  I should like all of the committee members to stand and be recognized.

This evening, the main point to be made on the anniversary of the 172nd year since the emancipation of the slaves is that the legacy that is Fox Hill’s does not only belong to this village, it is a legacy of national importance that belongs to The Bahamas and to the Bahamian people.

That Fox Hill was a free African village and has remained part of the tradition of freedom is a testament to the greater humanity of all, and to the development of our national character. There is no copyright in geographical location, and we all share in freedom this evening.

As the representative for this area, my responsibility was and remains to ensure that the traditions of pride in the African heritage of this village continued.  The Government has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in that effort over the last four years, and quite apart from support of the festival directly and these grounds, there has been the visit by South African and Chinese cultural groups, and in the year 2004, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the new world on the occasion of the Haitian revolution with the visit to this village by our Ambassador to UNESCO Sir Sidney Poitier and the Director General of UNESCO.

Earlier this year, we paid tribute to this village and its champion of freedom George Mackey in a state funeral that ended with a state procession through this village, the first in the history of this village.  This year’s festival has been named in honour of Mr. Mackey.

There are natural features in here in Fox Hill, like the ocean hole that can be rehabilitated and revived.

There are historic buildings like the ruins of Judge Sandilands home, the Sandilands Primary School believed to be the oldest public primary school in the nation, the St. Augustine’s College Monastery.  Then there is this historic Fox Hill Parade, and further there is the Freedom Park, which was once a consecrated ground for the burial of dead.

The silk cotton trees under which we sit this evening have witnessed the history of struggle and freedom, and together all of these features are important enough for the world to come see and witness.

The Ministry of Tourism with the Fox Hill Festival Committee, the religious and civic leaders of this community can all work together to combine these elements for the greater economic benefit of the village.  This is not a political matter.  This is a matter of culture and economics.

The Fox Hill Festival is a good franchise.  It is a brand name known throughout the country for a clean, safe, and cultural authentic experience in the middle of the summer when entertainment for the family is at a minimum.  The Ministry of Tourism can help us build on what has been done.  I want to invite all of you to come to Fox Hill for Junkanoo on Monday morning beginning at 1a.m. and to the National Service which will be led by the Governor General the Hon. Arthur Hanna.

Next year, some local and community leaders have taken up my suggestion of planning family reunions around this time in Fox Hill where the main families will come back to Fox Hill from around the world to help us celebrate their heritage.  In the coming months, I hope to meet with the leaders of the various families to suggest a way forward and how the Government can work to assist them in their reunions and further the development of Fox Hill.

I shall be launching a similar effort in Freeport to keep the ties bound to those who have emigrated from Fox Hill to our second city.

So tonight, I hope to be able to sit, listen and observe.  The role of the representative is to assist where he can; and support where he can, not to interfere in the normal life of the community.  It gives me great pride therefore to be able to see the young leadership emerging in this village, and I know that they will proudly walk across the national stage.

Thank you all for coming and I look forward to this evening’s civil discourse.