[Feedback]

[Site Map]

[Contact Us]

Morne Fortune's military cemetary gets a facelift with French assistance

Contact:  Shannon Lebourne

Friday 25 February 2011 – Saint Lucia`s  French neighbour and close diplomatic ally,   Martinique, has said it will provide technical and financial assistance to the government for the enhancement and preservation of the state`s military cemetery at Morne Fortune.

The offer which was presented as Saint Lucia celebrates its 32^nd Anniversary as an independent state, will ensure that the island`s war heroes and statesmen buried at the military cemetery, are honoured and remembered in a fitting manner.

Culture Minister Honourable Gaspard Charlmagne says such a project is critical for the preservation of the country’s history. 

“The effort to restore the Military Cemetery is part of what government would like to do to ensure that the whole question of heritage is maintained. This offer from the French to clean up this place and give it the respectability  it deserves really drove home the need for government to play a part in the restoration.”

The restoration of the military cemetery has also been endorsed by Britain’s Ambassador to Saint Lucia and the OECS, His Excellency Paul Brummel.

“This cemetery helps us to better understand the past. It also has a very crucial role as we look to the present and the future. I think this work to restore the cemetery really shows a level of respect for the people of previous generations and what they have done; it also shows that we value our military,” the minister for  culture said.

The cemetery at Morne Fortune is the final resting place for several of the men and women who fought on behalf of Saint Lucia during the first and second world wars. The cemetery is also the resting place of Saint Lucia`s former Governor General His Excellency Harold Simmons.

The cemetery was first established about 250 yeas ago.

 [Site Help]

© 2011 Government Information Service. All rights reserved.

Read our privacy guidelines.