NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 10, 2021) — Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis, is urging Nevisians to see the achievements of Dr. Albert Linton Liburd Sr. who was born in Brown Pasture in 1940, as a Nevisian story worthy of praise and reflection.

The Premier was at the time delivering remarks at an Investiture Ceremony for Dr. Liburd at Government House in Nevis, on September 09, 2021, when Her Honour Mrs. Hyleeta Liburd, Deputy Governor General, bestowed on him with the 2020 Medal of Honour which was awarded for his outstanding contribution in the field of Medicine.

“I think we ought to reflect; this is a Nevisian story. Whenever people tell us we’re small and you from a little island, and you from a little village, I think people like Dr. Linton Liburd, his family and the journey that he has taken should remind us all that we are great well beyond the size of our island. That our ambition, our desire to work hard and our desire to achieve, ultimately, is all that matters in determining how far we get to in life, and so he has demonstrated by his journey what he could achieve,” he said.

Mr. Brantley expressed hope that Dr. Liburd’s five children with his wife Carla, all of whom have entered the medical fraternity, would continue in their dad’s footsteps.

“I’m to hope his children now will continue that very rich tradition, and that they too will continue to do extremely well for his family, and that the name ‘Liburd’ will continue to ring loudly here on the island of Nevis as a family that has served and served, and served with distinction,” he said.

The Premier also encouraged Nevisians to look to at the journey which led to Dr. Liburd’s career achievements despite the challenges he would likely have faced during that period on the island of his birth.

“Imagine what Nevis would have been like in 1940. Imagine what our island would have been like in terms of its state of development, and when we hear of the journey that this Nevisian took, I believe that all of us should take comfort in that journey and all of us should be inspired by it…

“We don’t see the effort that would have gone into somebody like Dr. Linton Liburd bringing him to this stage where he is today, and I believe that journey is always important for all of us as a Nevisian people. That journey which tells us that in spite the circumstances sometimes of our birth, being born in Brown Pasture in 1940, the fourth of 10 children could not have been an easy existence in that era on the island of Nevis, and to hear that not just him but his siblings went on to do great things, to hear of the loss of some of his sisters  in the [MV] Christena Disaster, to hear of his achievements – topping the class here, being the second best in the Federation, going on to do great things in Jamaica, in the United States, in Trinidad and Tobago, practicing literally all across the globe and becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, is no small accomplishment for a Nevisian born in Brown Pasture…

“Often times we see others who have become great. We say sometimes perhaps they were born great. They say some become great but I always on occasions like these urge our people to look at the journey, to look at the footsteps and to imagine, if you will, the sheer accomplishment of someone like Dr. Liburd… It demonstrates that despite our circumstances, despite the circumstances of our birth; despite where we might have come from, despite the wealth or lack thereof of our families, we are ultimately, ultimately only limited by the extent of our ambitions and here was a young man who said from very early, I want to be a surgeon, and who worked assiduously…” he said.

Dr. Liburd who has since retired from his practice due to his health, joins two other Nevisians awarded with the 2020 Medal of Honour at an Investiture Ceremony at Government House in St. Kitts on August 17, 2021.  They were presented with their medals by Sir Tapley Seaton, Governor General of St. Kitts and Nevis.