MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar unveils 13 month program of Tercentenary celebration.

Gibraltar Minister for Tourism Joe Holliday this week unveiled a 13 month programme of heritage, military, cultural, entertainment and sporting events to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the British capture of Gibraltar from Spain in 1704.

Among the highlights for 2004 will be a rock concert by a leading unnamed British band and an exhibition match in the summer by US basketball legends the Harlem Globetrotters possibly by then in the new stadium facilities at Bayside. There will also be a political content to the occasion with a special session of the House of Assembly on August 4th 2004 to commemorate the tercentenary and pass Freedom of the City motions on various political, military and social recipients. An invitation has also been extended to the British Royal Family to participate at a special function on the Rock next year. Meanwhile a street party is envisaged for the evening of August 3rd to allow people a public holiday the following day. The budget for these events has not been concluded and the Government is keen to attract sponsors and commercial entities in sharing the costs of the various activities some of which will also yield income to the Gibraltar Government. A Gibraltar Government spokesman said: "Following the recommendations to the Government by the Tercentenary Events Committee, and following also consideration by Government of proposals received from members of the public, the Government is now in a position to publish the first outline version of the 2004 Tercentenary Celebrations Programme of Events. This programme of Events will, from time to time, be republished in updated form as the dates and other details of events which are not yet settled become known. Some events do not yet feature in the first outline version published today. Some of these exclusions are for security reasons some are because dates and details are not yet sufficiently firm." "The programme lasts for nearly 13 months, commencing on 3rd December 2003 and ending on 31st December 2004. Although the focal date is 4th August 2004, the celebrations take the form of commemorating and celebrating Tercentenary Year and not just Tercentenary Day."

The Purpose and Aims of the Celebrations

"The official statement of the ?Purpose and aims' of the celebratory events is as follows: To commemorate and celebrate by a series of events throughout 2004 the 300 years of Gibraltar's British history and sovereignty, the close links between Britain and Gibraltar that are the fruit of those 300 years, and the identity and culture of the people of Gibraltar that have evolved during that time, and for this purpose: To encourage, identify, and promote events celebrating Gibraltar's British history and particularly the evolution and development of the Gibraltarians identity, culture and way of life in these 300 years. To promote events in the UK and locally which create awareness, inform and educate about the history, development and evolution of the Gibraltarians identity, culture and way of life in these 300 years, and on the strong ties established between Great Britain and Gibraltar in this time. To encourage public participation in events and projects, at all levels, and to instill a general sense of pride in the Gibraltarians' history, identity, culture and way of life.

Logo

The Official Logo of the Tercentenary Events comprises an outline of the Rock set behind (and slightly above) the figure 300, with the words "Gibraltar 2004 300th Anniversary of British Gibraltar." The outline of the Rock and the first zero in the figure 300 are in blue. The figures "3" and the second zero in the figure "300" and the words "Gibraltar 2004" are in red. The words "300th Anniversary of British Gibraltar" are in black; all against a white background. Copyright in this logo is vested in the Gibraltar Government."

First Outline Version of Calendar of Events

In general, events fall into heritage, military, celebratory and entertainment events, Sport and Youth, political and religious events. The programme gets under way in December 2003 with the launch of the Heritage Trust Tercentenary Calendar and a new commemorative Tercentenary book on Gibraltar by Peter Bond and Gry Iverslein. The first celebratory event will be the greeting of the Tercentenary New Year at Casemates Square on New Year's Eve 2003. There will be an intense programme of heritage talks, walks and exhibitions throughout the year. The main exhibition will bring together from Government and private sources Gibraltar paintings, prints, books, articles, artifacts and documents. There will be a series of musical and sporting extravaganzas throughout the year, together with a series of events of a military ceremonial nature. On the eve of the Anniversary (Tuesday 3 August 2004) there will be a street party and verbena for all to enjoy. The highlight of the night will be a spectacular fireworks display. At a political level, there will be a Special Meeting of the House of Assembly on 4th August to commemorate the Tercentenary. At this meeting several motions will be presented conferring the freedom of the City of Gibraltar upon various military, political and social recipients. Several events take place in the UK. These include a thanksgiving Service at the Church of St Clement Danes in the Strand, followed by a Gibraltar Tercentenary Parliamentary Dinner. Tercentenary Bank Notes, coins, stamps and special medallions will be struck.

Organization and Coordination of Events

Official GOG events will be organised and all other events will be coordinated by Mr Peter Canessa (Government Tercentenary Events Director) and GPR Conference Ltd, represented by Mrs MarieLou Guerrero (Government Tercentenary Events Coordinator). Contact address: Duke of Kent House, Cathedral Square, Gibraltar Tel: 74950 Fax: 74943 Email: events@gibraltar2004.gov.gi Events in the UK will be organised and coordinated on behalf of the Government of Gibraltar by the Gibraltar Government Office in London under the direction of Mr Albert Poggio. Military Events in Gibraltar will be organised by the British Ministry of Defence, to whom the Government of Gibraltar is grateful for their participation.

Other Events

It may be that other bodies, associations or entities will wish to organize Tercentenary Events of their own. These would be welcomed. However to avoid date clashes and to ensure inclusion in the official programme of events and publicity any such organizers are requested to liaise with the Tercentenary Director and/or Coordinator at the earliest time. (Gib. Chronicle)

UK ?will not object to UN visit to Gibraltar"

It is up to the United States Committee of 24 to decide whether or not they wish to bring a visiting mission to Gibraltar. That is the position of the British Government as confirmed to the Chronicle by the Foreign Office this week. A spokesman limited himself to adding that if the Committee did decide to visit Gibraltar, the UK Government would not raise an objection. And the Fourth Committee has, adopting a decision without a vote, urged Britain and Spain to continue their Brussels process negotiations with the object of reaching a definitive solution to the problem of Gibraltar in light of relevant Assembly resolutions and in the spirit of the United Nations Charter. Meanwhile, Spain made clear her objections to any UN visit at last week's session of the Fourth Committee. It stated there that the UN Committee of 24 Spain should not allow any such visit to a territory that is ?disputed'. Spain told the UN that it was working with Britain and keeping to the consensus resolution. It noted the petition backed by 16.000 Gibraltarians and stated that for Gibraltar Government the main objective of sending a mission "would be to obtain an implicit or explicit support to its thesis against the principle of territorial integrity traditionally defended by the Assembly and in accordance with international law." He said Gibraltar would seek to obtain acknowledgement of last year's referendum which even Britain had not acknowledged. Spain said that the referendum had been invalid and that it is against any visit. Spain ?reminded' that for a visit to take place to a disputed territory both the administering power and the other party (ie Britain and Spain) would have to agree. Opposition Leader Joe Bossano had later rubbished this as an invention of UN doctrine by Spain.

Self determination

Meanwhile the Fourth Committee last week approved a two-part draft resolution by which the General Assembly would reaffirm the inalienable right of the peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination. "By the terms of the omnibus resolution, approved without a vote and following a week-long debate, the Assembly would reaffirm that, in the process of decolonization, there is no alternative to the principle of self-determination. It would also call upon the administering Powers, in cooperation with the territorial Governments, to facilitate political education programs in the Territories to foster awareness among the people of their right to self-determination," said a UN report of the session. By a further provision of the text, the Assembly would reaffirm that United Nations visiting missions to the Territories are an effective means of ascertaining the situation in the Territories and, in that context, request the administering Powers and the elected representatives of the peoples of the Territories to facilitate the work of the Special Committee on Decolonization. The Committee also approved, by a recorded vote of 93 in favor to none against, with 45 abstentions, a draft resolution on implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations. By its terms, the Assembly would request those bodies to review conditions in each Territory and take appropriate measures to accelerate progress in their economic and social sectors. "By the terms of a draft decision on the question of Gibraltar the Assembly would take note of the fact that as part of the Brussels negotiating process, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Spain and the United Kingdom hold annual meetings alternatively in each country, the most recent of which were held in Barcelona on 20 November 2001 and in London on 4 February 2002. It would urge both Governments to continue their negotiations with the object of reaching a definitive solution to the problem of Gibraltar in light of relevant Assembly resolutions and in the spirit of the United Nations Charter," said the UN report. (Gib. Chronicle).