Bermuda National Parks Amendment Act Tabled
A Bill was recently tabled in the House of Assembly aiming to amend the Bermuda National Parks Act 1986 by officially renaming “Devonshire Bay Park” as the “Mary Prince Emancipation Park”.
The Government had previously announced the plans to rename Devonshire Bay Park as Mary Prince Emancipation Park, and the signage has already been installed.
Former Minister of Community Affairs and Sports Lovitta Foggo previously explained that, “Mary Prince was born in Brackish Pond. Brackish Pond was the colloquial name at that time for the parish of Devonshire and most of the houses where she was enslaved were also in Devonshire.
“This site not only reflects her connection to Devonshire, but the park’s good access, central location, tranquility, and proximity to the ocean facing south are an acknowledgement of the parts of her life spent in the Caribbean, providing an ideal location to commemorate Mary Prince.”
An aerial view of Mary Prince Emancipation Park
The park name is one of two honours accorded to Ms Prince this year, as 2020 marks the first year the island officially celebrated Mary Prince Day, with the second day of Cup Match named after the iconic Bermudian who authored a book detailing her first hand experience of being enslaved, helping to galvanize the anti-slavery movement.
The full Bermuda National Parks Amendment Act 2020 follows below [PDF here]:
This is good…and hopefully govt will keep the grass cut and the grounds in a good state for once.