Sometime in the middle of the last term of the House of Assembly, it may have been as early as 2004, I received a call from Mrs. Barbara Albury who is a resident of Chippingham and a friend of my parents.  She identified herself as a relative of the owners of this land in Fox Hill where we now stand and said that they would like to sell it.
 
The land as you can see is proximate to the Sandilands Primary School.  I immediately set out upon a quest to have the government acquire this land for the use of the Sandilands Primary School.
 
In doing so, I had the support of the parents of the school, the support of the community at large, the school board headed by Mrs. Sabrina Pinder and the Principal of the school who was then Wenley Fowler.  Since that time, the successive principals; Norma Dean,  Mrs. Bridgewater, Miss Farrington and now today Mrs. Brown, have all supported the effort.  It also had the support of the then Minister Alfred Sears as well as the Superintendents of the district.
 
Times being as they were, there was one delay after the next and there was a change of government.  I did not know how the project would fare, but I immediately spoke to this Minister Carl Bethel who after some investigation concluded that it would be in the best interest of the school, this community and the children of Fox Hill and with the help of his technical people and administrators, he further drove the process to the announcement we are able to make today.
 
The Minister is leaving for another job and so it is fitting that he is able to make this announcement and I hope he sees it as a legacy to the children of Fox Hill.
 
The Sandilands Primary School has occupied these grounds since 1898, over one hundred years of service to the people of Fox Hill and it has produced some of Fox Hill’s finest sons and daughters.
 
The primary school in Fox Hill is my dearest project and the children are special to me.  There is no greater or better investment that can be made than in the children of this school and those who will follow them.  If they get a good grounding here, they can face the world.
 
I wish, then, to thank the Minister for assiduously bringing this to this point.  I wish to thank all the  officials for their support and I hope that, following the Minister’s leaving office, that the matter will be finalized.
 
It is also important to thank Bishop Chadwick James and his congregation for all their patience and forbearance while the decisions were made.  I know it has not been easy and I wish you and your congregation well.
 
This land acquisition is part of a wider plan by me for the development of the school which needs a library, teachers lounge, additional classrooms, a proper playing field and cafeteria.
 
The Fox Hill Community Centre which was constructed by me just a short way from here was also built mainly to serve the school so that the school body would have some place for assemblies and programmes in comfort and in shade from the elements.  While that building is functional, it needs now to be completed.
 
But there is a hymn that says in the meanwhile we should count our blessings and name them one by one.  Today, I name this as one of them.
 
I thank you very much indeed.