Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 03, 2022 (SKNIS): The Department of Youth Empowerment’s youth-centric activities and networks, along with the department’s efforts to promote sustainable development and caring for the environment, made it an excellent choice to partner with Government House to help coordinate the planting of 70 Trees for the Queen’s 70th Jubilee Initiative.
The initiative was launched on Thursday, June 02, 2022, during a ceremony in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s II Platinum Jubilee Celebration. St. Kitts and Nevis, like every other Commonwealth country, will host activities to mark the unprecedented 70-year reign of the British Monarch.
At Thursday’s ceremony, Valencia Syder, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, thanked Governor-General, His Excellency Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton for inviting the ministry to share in this grand occasion.
She noted that the 70 Trees for the Queen’s 70th Jubilee Initiative involves “planting trees by a wide cross-section of the community around the Federation.” The trees will be planted in the coming days and months by government officials, business leaders, school children and ordinary citizens from all walks of life.
His Excellency the Governor-General and Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, planted the first two trees at Government House under this initiative. They were assisted by a student from the Basseterre High School and one from the Tucker-Clarke Primary Schools.
Pierre Liburd, Director of the Department of Youth Empowerment, encouraged persons to plant more trees given that they provide fruit and shade, produce oxygen, and help to hold the land together (reduce soil erosion).
He reinforced the point by reciting a Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade that they know, they shall never sit in,”
“I think that we should reflect on this saying, particularly today but in everything that we do going forward and let that guide the actions that we take to ensure that generations to come will continue to benefit from our actions today,” Director Liburd stated.
The Department of Youth Empowerment undertakes many environmental projects such as tree plantings, beach clean-ups, hiking trail maintenance and underwater clean-ups.
