In­nis Fran­cis

in­nis_fran­cis@ya­hoo.com

As she of­fi­cial­ly de­clared the 42nd Bor­ough Day cel­e­bra­tions opened on Fri­day at the Vic­tor Chin Kit Prom­e­nade on Fri­day evening, Point Fortin May­or Saleema Thomas said the ac­tiv­i­ties planned were most an­tic­i­pat­ed as the coun­try emerged from pan­dem­ic re­stric­tions.

This year, the six-week cal­en­dar of events fo­cus­es on sports, health and well­ness, small busi­ness­es, health fair, en­ter­tain­ment, gospel, women and youth. The theme for the cel­e­bra­tions is Re­silient and Mov­ing For­ward.

“Over the last two years, we would have faced the chal­lenges not on­ly in Point Fortin but the en­tire world. This is the first cel­e­bra­tion in Trinidad and To­ba­go af­ter two years of a pan­dem­ic. We had some form of Taste of Car­ni­val and here we are be­ing the trend­set­ters as we al­ways do, be­ing the first in Trinidad and To­ba­go to be host­ing such a big fes­ti­val com­ing out of a pan­dem­ic, so all eyes are on us

“There is still COVID-19 out there, but we are giv­en some abil­i­ty to spread our wings,” the may­or said.

Thomas said Point Fortin gained bor­ough sta­tus on April 30, 1980, and 42 years lat­er the coun­cil is fo­cus­ing on com­plet­ing lega­cy projects with a par­tic­u­lar fo­cus on gen­er­al aes­thet­ics and beau­ty. She said the theme for cel­e­bra­tions en­forces the abil­i­ty to cope, gain greater strength, and per­se­ver­ance to ef­fec­tive­ly over­come chal­lenges shared.

Bor­ough Day ac­tiv­i­ties be­gan on April 17 and will con­tin­ue un­til May 26.