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Fixed memorial in New York for J'can 9/11 victims

Published:Wednesday | January 4, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Geneive Brown Metzger, Consul General of Jamaica to New York lays the wreath in memory of Jamaicans who perished in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. - CONTRIBUTED

A PERMANENT memorial to honour Jamaican nationals who died in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 will be erected at the British Garden at Hanover Square, in lower Manhattan.

Jamaica joins other Common-wealth nations - Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom - in making the British Garden a permanent memorial for its 9/11 victims.

On Memorial Day, November 11, 2011, 10 years and one month after the terrible attacks, Geneive Brown Metzger, Jamaica's Consul General to New York, represented her country by laying a wreath in honour of all those Jamaican nationals who were lost when the two towers crumbled. The consul general participated with the full endorsement of the Jamaican Government.

Will never be forgotten

Reflecting on the event, Dr Brown Metzger said, "The Jamaicans who perished in the attacks on the World Trade Centre will never be forgotten by their families and homeland. This memorial in the heart of New York City is a fitting tribute, and I am honoured to be able to lead the official recognition of their sacrifice to their adopted homeland."

Located in lower Manhattan, The British Garden is a joint project between the British Consulate and the St George's Society in New York. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 and its founding was prompted by a desire to honour and memorialise the 67 British subjects who lost their lives in the tragic attacks. Since then the purpose of the British Garden has been expanded to also honour other Commonwealth subjects lost in the attacks. Royal Patron of the British Garden at Hanover Square is the Prince of Wales.

Consul General Brown Metzger is a member of the board of directors of the St George's Society and co-chair of the Commonwealth Committee. In her role as director, she conceptualised the society's Commonwealth Award in 2009, the first of which was presented in 2010 to Jamaican-American Entrepreneur Vincent Hosang, President of Royal Caribbean Bakery, by HRH the Prince of Gloucester, who is also Royal Patron of the Society.

"The British Garden at Hanover Square is most honoured and pleased to welcome its Jamaican brothers and sisters to the garden, where they are uniting in a permanent memorial to those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks with nationals of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand," said Victor E. Stewart, chairman of the Garden, adding that the garden is planning to place a suitable marker reflecting Jamaica's participation in the garden during the year.