The Prime Minister says The Dr Eric Williams Memorial Library is more than just a library, it is “a region being cemented.”
At the official opening of the library, home of the Eric Williams memorial collection research library, archives and museum on Knox St, Port of Spain, on Tuesday, Dr Rowley said education was important to Williams.
The guests at the opening included President Paula-Mae Weekes, Jamaica’s PM Andrew Holness, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Senate President Christine Kangaloo.
He recalled going with his grandfather in Tobago to a talk by Williams, the country’s first PM.
Williams spoke about the potential for the next generation to do better and have opportunities the people of TT never dreamed of.
Rowley explained, as a child in Tobago, there were no streetlights, there was no school at Buccoo Point, and there were no government primary schools as they were all run by various religious organisations.
[caption id="attachment_972491" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness tours the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Library on Knox Street in Port of Spain with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at the opening on Tuesday. - SUREASH CHOLAI[/caption]
“On this day of gratitude, on our jubilee, I can tell you our progress as a people can be most easily identified by comparing those days with the finest primary school in Tobago now in Buccoo. We’ve come a long way.”
He said he attended Mason Hall Government Primary School and was one of four students to pass the common entrance exam to attend Bishops High School, Scarborough, for free.
Now, every child was guaranteed a place in a secondary school.
Rowley said he did not plan to present himself as a candidate in the 2020 general election, but, out of concern for the people of TT, he wanted to steer them through the pandemic. He also wanted to ensure the library project was completed.
“I kept thinking that this is not about me. It is about the people of TT, and Dr Williams had sacrificed for us to understand that and we ought to be a grateful people.”
He thanked the Cabinet members who supported the financing of the project, the Udecott team, and the team of the Alma Jordan Library at UWI for making the library possible.
“This building is a historical legacy of the people of TT for all time. These walls would have heard the voices of Dr Williams and Dom Basil Matthews...
“Here is where the concept of our nation was discussed, crystallised and ideas grasped. So wherever we are, whoever we are, whatever we will become, this was the beginning of that journey.”
Erica Williams-Connell, William’s daughter, thanked Rowley for supporting the efforts of herself and UWI over the past 11 years.
She recalled placing her father’s materials into UWI’s care in 1989.
[caption id="attachment_972489" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Dr Eric Williams Memorial Library on Knox Street in Port of Spain. - SUREASH CHOLAI[/caption]
