The Independence Secretariat hosted the Golden Jubilee Independence Awards at the Baha Mar Resort on Monday. The awards recognized Bahamians living and deceased who contributed to the building of the modern Bahamas.
Committee Chairman, Sean McWeeney addressed the large gathering. He lauded the Prime Minister for the idea of awards. “When he approached me to chair the committee, about a year ago, he was filled with great enthusiasm about the project and gave it his full commitment throughout. Let me make it very clear, that the Prime Minister at no time whatsoever tried to indicate who should be on this list,” McWeeney said.
Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis also delivered remarks at the event. He said, “it was important to us, not only to recognize those who are blessed enough to be here in person, but also to honour the contribution of those who are no longer with us. Today, we remember and celebrate them all. And if you look at the makeup of the honours it does not have any divide. It is what represents us as Bahamians recognizing all who may contribute despite the differences that we might have shared over the period of time but that what brought us here today. And I trust that that is recognized in those persons who have been given this supreme honour.”
Among the honourees were former Prime Ministers, the Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie and the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham and former Governors General Arthur Hanna and Dame Marguerite Pindling.
(BIS Photos)
