The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, inaugurated and unveiled the Plaque of the Valley of the Bones Trail of Le Morne Brabant Mountain, yesterday, in the presence of the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Mr Alan Ganoo, and the Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mr Avinash Teeluck.
Ministers, Private Parliamentary Secretaries as well as other personalities were present. The Prime Minister and the guests also walked along the Le Morne Brabant Mountain Memorial Trail of around 3.5 km.
The event was organised by Le Morne Heritage Trust Fund in collaboration with the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage and the National Heritage Fund in the context of the African World Heritage Day.
In a statement, Prime Minister Jugnauth highlighted the importance of valorising the national heritage sites attached to the history of the country and our ancestors. He indicated that Le Morne Brabant has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for its exceptional testimony to maroonage or resistance to slavery in terms of the mountain being used as a fortress to shelter escaped slaves.
He acknowledged the sacrifices, perseverance and hard work of the ancestors and saluted their contribution in laying the foundation of Mauritius.
The new trail, he emphasised, is yet another symbol to recognise and commemorate the impact and influence of slavery and slave trade on Mauritian history and a way to pay reverence to our ancestors. The Valley of the Bones trail will further familiarise Mauritians as well as foreign visitors of the country’s history, rich cultural heritage, as well as the sufferings and exploitation the slaves had to endure at that time, he said.
For his part, Minister Teeluck underlined that the launch of the new trail is a way to redynamise the country’s historical and cultural value. He recalled that an open air museum was inaugurated at Trou Chenille in 2020 and that the Slavery museum has been opened to the public to better inform the visitors of the different phases of development of Mauritius.
The launch is also the beginning of a series of celebrations that will be organised to mark the 190th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in 2025, he pointed out.
