Petit Bordel should be up front in renaming of places

EDITOR: It is an interesting suggestion to have some villages renamed. From what I heard it is some of the villages and places that [are] associated with slavery. My view is that there should be a national discussion on it and get the response of the populace.

This has to be done not hurriedly and there should be a committee which should be involved in educating the populace about the meanings and background of some of these villages. For, changing the name would not be easy like that. Many of us know very little about the origin and meaning of some of these villages’ names.

I would also strongly recommend a change in the name of the village of Petit Bordel to something more appropriate and here is where again a committee needs to be established to deal with this change. The committee must engage residents of that village and its surroundings in a discussion concerning the name.

The name Petit Bordel is a French word, which means the ‘Little Whore House’. This name sends the wrong message about the village and gives it a negative idea. The history as to how the name came about is still unknown and research would have to be done. To change it from its present name to another name would require discussion and research.

We may take different views when it comes to renaming of villages that have colonial bearing and slavery, but, definitely, we ought to rename Petit Bordel to something else. There should be no doubt concerning the renaming of that village to something more appropriate.

The time is now for more education about the villages and street names with the intention of changing [them] to something more appropriate. I, trust we would see the value of renaming some of these villages and places and in particular, Petit Bordel.

Kennard King