Parliament to Debate Emancipation Day Holiday in Plenary Session Monday

  Great Bay, St. Martin (Thursday, May 17, 2012) – Parliament will debate and possibly vote on the Emancipation Day legislation seeking to make July 1st, Emancipation Day, a national public holiday when it meets at 10:00AM on Monday, May 21st  in a plenary session convened by the President of Parliament, drs. Gracita Arrindell.

The session, which was to have taken place last Monday, May 14th, 2012, was postponed to allow members to attend the funeral service of MP Hyacinth Richardson’s mother which was held that same day.

Outgoing Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, has been invited to appear in Parliament to make a presentation regarding the proposed law which she has been working on since she took office some 19 months ago.

The Central Committee of Parliament, consisting of all the MPs, had given its thumbs up to the draft legislation when it met earlier this month on the matter. It is expected that Dr. Arrindell will respond to some of the concerns raised by a few of the MPs, particularly the matter of giving content to the day and sensitizing the population to the importance of Emancipation Day.

Fabian Badejo.