BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Government is moving to move valuable historical assets to a disaster-resistant facility by November, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight has disclosed, days after a fire destroyed a building at the country’s Archives Department.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight.She said efforts to protect the archives had been underway well before the incident that occurred near midnight on Monday, and has been vetted by the Barbados Fire Service.
“November was actually a sped-up time, even before the occurrence of the fire, so November is still the timing we are working with to be able to move. But we are continuing to make sure that we examine the buildings at the Archives but then we also have the satellite site where we will be moving other critical documents from the Archives to that location that has that 4.5 rating,” Senator Munro-Knight told a press conference.
She reiterated government’s commitment to secure all of its cultural assets.
Block D at the Archives Department which was completely destroyed housed records of the Vestry, the former local government system that dates back to the 17th century; the city council; records of the mental hospital and general hospital; historical court proceedings including the Court of Chancery; newspaper archives and other official documents. The majority of the contents were destroyed.
The minister shared that government had received offers from historians, students, locals, and members of the private sector, who want to volunteer. Additionally, she pointed out that requests have also been received from persons with businesses working in the sector, who are willing to offer their expertise.
“This is how we do it as Barbadians…. When our backs are against the wall, we come together and this has been a perfect example of us being able to do that. I want to particularly single out the Barbados Fire Service…. They have been tremendous, passionate and supportive throughout all of this. I don’t think sometimes we realise…the human resources that we have on the island, that are able to step up in moments like these and I really want to thank them,” Senator Munro-Knight said.
She maintained that the archival records were part of our history and part of our story and alluded to the significance of Government’s Reclaiming our Atlantic Destiny (ROAD) Project, launched in December 2021 to create a “pathway” to secure and protect the records.
She insisted that one of the signal elements of the project was digitising the records, which had been ongoing since 2017 at the Department of Archives.
Government had already “set the pathway for protecting these assets”, Senator Munro-Knight said.
“In fact, in 2023, the government trained approximately 100 persons in the elements of the digitisation and conservation to not only serve our purpose but to create a cadre of persons in areas where there is a dearth in the region for people who are specialists in the area of digitisation and conservation,” she stressed.
Currently, there are 120 Barbadians working offsite to continue the digitization process of the Department’s records.
