JA Looking to Have Port Royal and Cockpit Country Inscribed to UNESCO World Heritage List

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, says nomination dossiers are being prepared for two more of the country’s heritage sites to be inscribed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

She said these sites include Port Royal and the Cockpit Country.

Ms Grange made the remarks during a speech read by State Minister in the Ministry, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, at a ceremony to mark World Heritage Day held at the Edward Seaga Library located at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston on April 18.

“In Jamaica, we have designated many heritage sites because of their importance to the country as a whole, but we believe that many of them also have outstanding universal value and are, therefore, worthy of inscription to the UNESCO list of International World Heritage Sites,” she said.

Jamaica’s renowned Blue and John Crow Mountains was inscribed to UNESCO’s World Heritage List on July 3, 2015.

The inscription represents the first World Heritage Site for Jamaica and the first mixed (cultural and natural) site for the Caribbean subregion. It is one of only 32 mixed sites.

Ms Grange noted that as impressive as natural or manmade areas or structures might be, what really makes them have value are the connections that they have to people’s lives.

“We are protecting our history, our culture, our legacy, things that are intangible [and] purely Jamaican,” she said.

In the meantime, Ms Grange stated that World Heritage Day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of protecting and preserving various sites especially those that have achieved World Heritage Site status.

“These sites are important to us here in Jamaica because of the significance they have in promoting our culture and the beauty of our island home,” she said.

Ms. Grange encouraged Jamaicans to preserve and protect tangible representations and aspects of the country’s diverse culture and history.

“Let us, therefore, impact the way we are remembered, the way we pave the future for the upcoming generations, let us, in fact, understand that we are painters of this the great masterpiece that is… our culture and our rich heritage,” she said.

Principal, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Dr. Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson said the college will continue to support the efforts of the Ministry in preserving the country’s heritage.

The function was organised by the College in collaboration with the Ministry through its agency, the Institute of Jamaica.