In­stead of spend­ing Eman­ci­pa­tion Day at cel­e­bra­tions or re­lax­ing with fam­i­ly, a group of Sea Scouts ded­i­cat­ed the pub­lic hol­i­day to clean­ing and pre­serv­ing the his­toric graves of the Sir La­m­ont fam­i­ly, for­mer own­ers of Palmiste Es­tates, while urg­ing cit­i­zens to help pro­tect Trinidad and To­ba­go’s her­itage.

Mem­bers of the 31st Trinidad Sea Scouts part­nered with the Palmiste His­tor­i­cal So­ci­ety to clear over­grown veg­e­ta­tion and tidy the cen­turies-old bur­ial site, one of the few re­main­ing his­tor­i­cal land­marks in the area.

Deputy Na­tion­al Com­mis­sion­er for Pro­gramme of the Scout As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go, Vin­cent Ra­moutar, said pre­serv­ing the coun­try’s his­to­ry was a shared re­spon­si­bil­i­ty.