The late Alfonso Blijden
PHILIPSBURG--The efforts of the late historian Alfonso Blijden of St Maarten’s Department of Records in chronicling the country’s past have been recognised internationally.
Prime Minister SIlveria Jacobs said on Wednesday that St. Maarten has received from the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme official recognition of St Maarten’s slave registry submission which was done by Blijden.
“Alfonso Blijden’s hard work has paid off and now St Maarten is receiving that recognition as a memory of the world document,” Jacobs said during the live Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday. “So, this we will be commemorating. It is a period of 1816 to 1969 which he has submitted and, as such, a plaque will be donated which will be unveiled at a special ceremony to be announced.
“We are very, very proud of this, because we continue to speak about what we don’t have, but there have been people over the years doing diligent work silently and we have seen a lot of his productions on Facebook before he passed, but diligently it was also submitted to UNESCO and is now part of the memory of the world and we will be highlighting that as soon as we receive the necessary documentation. A certificate was sent and … a ceremony will be planned with his department and with his family members to commemorate this.”
