Westmoreland celebrates Cuban connection

BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer West senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

PETERSFIELD, Westmoreland — Savanna-la-Mar's mayor councillor Bertel Moore is seeking to have that seaside town twinned with a municipality in Cuba.

" Cuba is a big country and has local authorities like us in Jamaica, and I am asking the Cuban Ambassador (Yuri Gala Lopez) today to seek ways on how we can twin the town of Savanna-la- Mar with a local government authority in Cuba," Moore said.

He argued that such a twinning relationship could be mutually beneficial to both countries.

"There are best practices that we could share with each other. Maybe there is something in a local authority in Cuba that we are not doing in Jamaica and there maybe ways and things that we are doing here in Jamaica that they are not doing in Cuba, so we can share our best practices together," the mayor explained.

Moore who is also Chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council was speaking at the Petersfield Community Park at the Jamaica Cuba Friendship Association (Westmoreland Chapter) 5th annual Bay of the Pigs celebrations on Saturday.

He lauded the Cubans for their outstanding contribution to the island over the past 25 years and praised former Prime Minister Michael Manley for his role in fostering the friendship between both nations.

" Michael Manley was the one who paved the way for us to have such a friendship with the Cuban people and I am quite sure that whatever we do in Jamaica today, we must remember what the Cubans have done for us, and are still doing," Mayor Moore said.

He pointed to the construction of the Jose Marti Technical High School in St Catherine; the Cubans serving in the medical field and the education sector; as well as the number of Jamaican students studying in the neighbouring island, as noteworthy.

Custos of Westmoreland Owen Sinclair also praised the Cubans for their contribution to the country.

He recalled that the name "Cuba" in the 1970's was a "dirty word" but he said over time, the Cubans have established themselves and have gained much recognition and friends because of their hard work, their diligence; their patience and understanding of human suffering. "For this we should remain eternally grateful," he said.

Chairman of the Westmoreland Chapter of the Jamaica Cuba Friendship Association, Matthias Brown spoke of the many "struggles" to get Jamaicans to accept the Cubans in the 1970s.

" I can remember some of the demonstrations that we had in Westmoreland....... because some people did not like the Cubans around so they demonstrated and we had to have counter demonstrations, and I had to lead them because I know that they were doing a good job," Brown told the gathering consisting of Cubans working on the island, as well as locals.

He said however that he is now heartened by the fact that the present government and the general public are now embracing the Cubans.

Saturday celebrations which included a rich cultural package accompanied by generous servings of food and liquor also saw several other speakers praising the Cubans.

The Bay of the Pigs celebrations is an annual event, aimed at sensitising, educating and strengthening the ties between the Cubans and the people of Westmoreland.

Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica Yuri Gala Lopez in his address said the celebrations show the kind of love and generosity between the people of Cuba and Jamaica.

He also pointed to the strengthening of ties over between both countries over the past year and pledged his continued support in further improving the relationship.

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