PRIME Minister P J Patterson has welcomed a proposal presented to him by representatives of the academic community of the University of the West Indies for Jamaica to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans to the Caribbean in 2007.

The group, led by Dr Verene Shepherd, professor of social history at the UWI and chairperson of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, presented its proposal during a meeting at Jamaica House on Tuesday.

Discussions on the bicentenary have been proceeding with the Jamaica National Heritage Trust since June and graduate students at the UWI are already engaged in research activities.

In welcoming the proposal, Mr Patterson said activities to mark the historic occasion must reflect the Caribbean perspective of the transatlantic slave trade and should involve the town of Falmouth which is said to have been a main point of entry for the majority of enslaved Africans who were brought to Jamaica.

A core committee is to be established to begin the initial phase of the planning which will primarily centre on the establishment of a broad-based National Planning Committee.

The Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans occurred between the 16th Century and the early 1800s and was abolished in 1807. It is estimated that between 15 and 18 million enslaved Africans were brought to the western world during the period.