Today, Panama celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal with a ceremony and gala.
Following is the message from Prime Minister Freundel Stuart on Panama Day.
Fellow Barbadians, About one century ago, in a period of acute economic depression, a significant segment of the Barbadian population, estimated as high as 60 000 persons, responded to opportunities offered to participate in the greatest civil works project of the 20th century, the creation of a Canal that united two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, traversing the Isthmus of Panama.
The impact of this gargantuan effort by these Barbadians, resulting, not infrequently, in blood, sweat and tears, contributed not only to the completion of a Canal but also to the forging of an indelible and irrevocable bond of kinship across the ocean.
Many Barbadians made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of this great work. The men who came to be known as the “silvermen”, denoting the silver coins in which they were paid by the Panama Canal Company, did more than buy property, build homes and educate their children upon their return.
The tremendous effort and contribution made to their homeland helped to forge the creation of a middle class. Those who did not return to Barbados, contributed to the development of not one but two nations.
A hundred years later we call to mind that sacrifice and rejoice in the forging of a new era of brotherly love, friendly cooperation and economic ties.
Today is being celebrated in Barbados as Panama Day, a day which should be seen not only as the culmination of a century of ties starting with the opening of a Canal, but the beginning of a new era of cooperation between two countries, both now sovereign independent nations of the Americas.
May God continue to bless us all, as Barbadians and Panamanians join hands across the ocean in an effort to sustain our joint endeavour to build on a heritage of which we all can, with justification, feel proud. (PR)
