Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says the government will be working along with a Cuban foundation for a sculptured bust of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and other people who were killed on October 19, 1983.
Mitchell, who has returned from an official visit to Cuba, said the plans are for the busts to be installed as part of activities to commemorate National Heroes Day on October 19 this year.
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Grenada observed National Heroes Day for the first time last October, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Bishop, the island’s first left-wing prime minister, who along with several of his cabinet ministers were killed during a palace coup.
The coup led to the demise of the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) and the Bishop’s body has never been officially identified as a result, there is no known final resting place of the revolutionary leader.
Mitchell told a news conference that while in Havana he held discussions with the son of the sculptor who designed the Maurice Bishop bust and that a partnership has been established with a foundation for a similar undertaking in Grenada.
“We had the opportunity to meet with the son of the sculptor who operates a Foundation and a company that has significant experience and expertise in the creation of busts.
“We engaged in discussions surrounding or commissioning a bust to represent Maurice Bishop and the 18 colleagues who were killed on the 19th of October 1983 to be done by the sculptor and his Foundation,” said Mitchell.
“And so, we anticipate before October 19, 2024, that we will have a bust of Maurice Bishop together with the 18 colleagues who fell and most importantly we will signal the commencement of a relationship with that foundation to teach Grenadians students in particular the art of bust making, the art of sculpture and all that goes with it,” Mitchell told reporters. CMC
