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POND ISLAND--Caribbean Countries should get reparations from former and in some cases, present colonial masters to repair the under-development they face today, said Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the topic of reparations.

Dr. Gonsalves was the keynote speaker at the Emancipation Day Lecture hosted by Independence for St. Martin Foundation on Saturday night at University of St. Martin (USM). St. Maarten will mark Emancipation Day on Wednesday, July 1. The day is a holiday on the Dutch-side of the island.

He said preparation for putting a case for reparations is very necessary. One step in that direction is the establishment of the Caribbean Community Caicom Reparation Commission.

He urged St. Maarten to establish its own reparations commission to begin putting its case together for repayment from the Netherlands. He considers the case of St. Maarten being possibly stronger than other fully independent countries of the Caribbean seeking same from especially the British.

“You are still a part of it [the Netherlands],” Dr. Gonsalves said, equating that inclusion as a place of strength from which the country can “make demands” of the Dutch Government.

Rhoda Arrindell of the foundation said the struggle is still on to get the Netherlands to acknowledge the scourge of slavery.

Dr. Gonsalves drew attention to the way colonial powers grabbed land in the Caribbean from the native people and later shared it out as reward to their heroes. He questioned why, in the case of the British giving land to its heroes, they didn't opt to give land in London, Yorkshire and other places in the United Kingdom.

The lands given away, according to Dr. Gonsalves, totals to some one billion British pounds when extrapolated to today's value.

The reparation argument is "not to get the one billion," but to better the state and position of the people of the Caribbean.

Caribbean countries like his were left underdeveloped by colonial countries and struggling for resource to better their people. Dr. Gonsalves said when he first took office a decade ago, St. Vincent only had two high schools. One of his first goals was to increase that number. He has built some nine high schools and pointed to them as his government’s way of promoting education among the people.

Responding to the often posed question of why the Caribbean countries do not seek reparations from African countries for their part in slavery, Dr. Gonsalves said no African country had slavery as part of their mission.

Education about reparation and knowing what should come to the Caribbean countries is vital, Dr. Gonsalves said. He pointed to Saturday's lecture as a needed step in educating the population about reparation and the case of the Caribbean.

"We need to inform ourselves in a non-confrontational manner about native genocide and slavery," he said.

Attendees, packed into the USM's Room 202, included Governor Eugene Holiday, Members of Parliament, St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and St. Eustatius Island Councilman Clyde van Putten.