(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) CARICOM Secretary-General, H.E. Edwin Carrington, was among three CARICOM representatives participating in this week’s celebrations of Belize’s 25th Anniversary of Independence. The Secretary-General – the holder of Belize’s Order of Distinction – joined a number of representatives including from Barbados, Jamaica, Panama, Cuba, Nigeria, South Africa and Taiwan, as well as the Assistant Secretary-General of the OAS, in paying tribute to Belize on the occasion celebrated under the theme “A Nation Alive; A People with Pride; Belize at 25”.

The celebrations which included the traditional midnight flag-raising ceremony were addressed by the Head of State, Sir Colville Young, the Prime Minister, the Honourable Said Musa, the Leader of Opposition, the Honourable Dean Barrow and the Mayor of Belize City. Among the highlights, was the conferral of the Order of Belize posthumously, on former President Torrijos of Panama, the father of the current President of Panama, for his contribution to Belize’s struggle for Independence. The Omar Torrijos Herrera En Gran Cruz, the highest Order of Panama, was in turn conferred by the President of Panama, H.E. Martin Torrijos on the Honourable George C. Price, former Head of Government of Belize and “Father of the Nation”.

Thousands of Belizeans turned out in ideal Belizean weather to witness the official ceremony and to participate in the customary Independence Parade. The celebrations highlighted the great achievements of the Belizean people during their first quarter century of Independence as well as the formidable challenges facing them as they embark on the next quarter of a century.

Following his participation in Belize’s 25th Anniversary Independence Celebrations, the Secretary-General took part in the Annual Meeting of the Board of the CARICOM Climate Change Centre on Friday, 22nd September 2006, before departing for Saint Lucia for next Monday’s seminar on the Alliance of Civilizations organized by the Ibero-American Secretariat.