Plaque down!

An appeal is being made to those in authority to work swiftly to re-erect The City plaque which highlights where the enslaved came ashore to Barbados.

Historian Trevor Marshall on Friday pointed out to the media that the plaque, which is situated on the Wickham-Lewis Boardwalk along the careenage in Bridgetown, has broken off and is lying flat along the footpath where pedestrians walk.

Concerned that someone may be injured or that someone may walk on it, he called for relevant authorities to take action as soon as possible. “We suspect that the screws were loosened by…the outer bands of Hurricane Irma, which as you know reached us two days ago. So we think they were loosened and arguably this must have fallen last night [Thursday night]. That would take government probably $1000 or so but mainly to reinforce the concrete, put in bigger screws and restore it.”

He added, “If it lies longer than next weekend then it is disrespect. I think we have to get this back up and I am sure all the other historians of Barbados…[would agree].”

Going into detail about the significance of the memorial, Marshall explained that “the plaque has been here from 2009. It was authorised by the then Prime Minister, the late Hon. David Thompson to be put here because it is thought that it is at this point that the boats bringing the enslaved Africans docked.”

He further added that the plaque was erected because “it indicates that this is where the ancestors of 280 000 Barbadians black as well as some Bajan whites came ashore here as enslaved people. So I think it is a cause for concern particularly, we are in the era now of people getting rid of offending statues but this is a memorial which does not offend. In fact, it elucidates, it enlightens, it even inspires because Barbados was the distribution point for the entire British Caribbean.”

Gene Ramos, who is visiting Barbados from New York and was on a tour of historic Bridgetown led by Marshall, also made an appeal for the plaque to be restored. He also called for more to be done to educate Barbadians about the importance of the landmark.

“We realised that one of your plaques which is really important to your island was down and nobody noticed it. People just walking right by, they were people stepping on it and it is really important to this island and it is where the slaves were dropped off and like the gentleman said, 99 percent don’t even know this plaque is here and that is so sad. I would like to see it back up so it can be taught to the younger generation what this plaque means to this island.”(MG)