MINISTER of Information and Development Donald Buchanan on Thursday launched the annual National Labour Day project which will this year see the restoration of the Bath Botanical Gardens in St Thomas.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘Honouring our Ancestors…Strengthening our Communities’ and is intended to complement activities marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The annual Labour Day concert will follow the day of toil in the Paul Bogle square in Morant Bay.

According to Buchanan, the day presents “an excellent opportunity” for Jamaicans to demonstrate respect for the individuals who built the foundations of the labour environment that now exists in the country.

He said the theme was an “appropriate choice” and called on Jamaicans “to work on projects that promote peace, love and unity within our communities and those that will preserve the legacy of our ancestors”.

The Bath Botanical Gardens is the second oldest of its kind in the Western hemisphere and was the first site on which the breadfruit, otaheiti apple and the ackee trees were planted in the island.

Labour Day was first observed in Jamaica on May 23, 1961 to mark the anniversary of the emergence of the island’s working-class movement. Its objectives are to enhance the dignity of labour by improving the environment, inspiring the spirit of community development and encouraging the principle of working together and sharing.

Thursday’s launch took place on the lawns of Jamaica House. Among those in attendance was Opposition Spokesman on Labour & Social Security Rudyard Spencer who reiterated the Jamaica Labour Party’s call for more employment opportunities which he said were necessary for the country’s-development.