PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs has encouraged residents to turn out today to a cultural symposium under the theme: “Forging a Stronger National Identity.” The symposium will be held at Port De Plaisance at 8am to 2 pm. It culminates days of a stakeholders meeting with invited guests from Jamaica under the auspices of the St. Maarten Cultural Department seeking to bolster the national identity of Country St. Maarten.
“The Culture Department, with my blessing and actually with my insistence, is working diligently to really put forward a plan for the revitalisation of our national and cultural heritage. As such they have started stakeholders meeting and are actively busy right now with a workshop which is titled “Enhancing National Identity with Tourism Management and Heritage Sites,” the minister said. The workshop started Monday and continued up to Wednesday.
The minister said persons who have helped shaped the cultural identity of St. Maarten will be present at today’s meeting. “Stakeholders, who in the past have been quite active in preserving our cultural heritage, have been invited to speak and contribute at this event,” the minister said.
Minister Jacobs highlighted the importance of this occasion to the development of the country’s cultural identity. “I do encourage those participants to come out, take part in this as we take the first step in forging that national pride, a stronger national identity and moving forward as a St. Maarten people with pride,” Minister Jacobs said.
