The Jamaican Cabinet has approved the compulsory acquisition of the birthplace of national hero Marcus Garvey, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust announced Thursday.

Garvey was born at 32 Market Street in St Ann’s Bay in St Ann. The government made the announcement on the 124th anniversary of Garvey’s birth.

The Trust has been working to rehabilitate Garvey’s home for years.

“One of the issues that has debilitated our activities in the last couple of years is the fact that the place is occupied and the ownership has always been an issue,” said Laleta Davis-Mattis, executive director at the Trust.

According to Davis-Mattis, Minister Olivia Grange is working to relocate the residents at the home, with an aim for a groundbreaking in October.

“Our responsibility, if we want to pay tribute and homage to Marcus Garvey, is to carry on his project in our daily lives and in our communities,” said Sydney Bartley, Principal Director for Culture in the Ministry. “More than speaking the words to glorify Marcus Garvey, is to carry out actions that emulate and continue the very project he stood for, which is the advancement of the welfare of the people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society.”

In May, Grange announced a move to set up two committees to lobby the US government to pardon Garvey, who was imprisoned for mail fraud in 1923.

–Jamaica Information Service