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News : Bahamas Information Services Updates Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM


Governor General Visits Ragged Island and Mayaguana
Sep 25, 2011 - 10:38:46 AM

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Duncan Town, Ragged Island – On Thursday 22 September Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes and Lady Foulkes made an official visit to this south-western island in The Bahamas archipelago.

They were accompanied by Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, the Hon. Lawrence Cartwright, MP for Long Island and Ragged Island. The official delegation was met at the airport by the Administrator for Exuma and Ragged Island Mr. Ivan Ferguson and Chief Councillor Mr. Demison Nesbitt along with other government officials, and civic and religious leaders.

Their Excellencies toured the new road works and port which, along with a new runway and taxiway at the airport, were funded through a collaboration between the Government of The Bahamas and the European Union. The delegation also viewed the site on which a new Royal Bahamas Defence Force base is being built.

Sir Arthur and Lady Foulkes participated in a convocation at the Ragged Island All-Age School. During the convocation students showcased their poetry-reading and dance talents.

In an address to teachers, students and parents, Sir Arthur spoke of the history of Ragged Island, noting that it is, “a small island with a small population but a famous island with a great history.”

He observed that Ragged Island once shared in the prosperity of the salt industry and produced master mariners and “some of the greatest seafaring people in the Bahamas.” He noted that in addition to Ragged Islanders excelling in various areas of national life, that some of the country’s “great cultural icons were born here or descended from here, including the late George Moxey and Kayla Lockhart Edwards, as well as Edmund Moxey.”

Sir Arthur also continued with the One Bahamas theme he has invoked during official visits to other Family Islands and during his tenure as Governor General.

He reminded Ragged Islanders:

“You live on Ragged Island, one of these jewels in the crystal waters of the Bahamas, with some of the natural wonders I have just described. But all of this Bahamas is your heritage, from Abaco in the north to Inagua in the south, and wherever you go in our Bahamas you are home.”

The Governor General further noted:

“We are Bahamians, and we have woven a single, rich cultural tapestry of threads from Africa, Europe and Asia, threads spun and coloured in the Americas and the islands of the Caribbean.

“We are now one people, One Bahamas, proud of our music, proud of our songs and dances, proud of our folklore, proud of our works of art.

“We are also proud of the national institutions that lend us stability and bind us together as one nation, institutions built on the concepts of freedom, equality, democracy, and the rule of law which is handmaiden to the sovereign justice. For all these things we give thanks and we celebrate with great joy.”


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