Columns

Many individuals, particular females, suffer from bunions. This foot disorder can cause much pain and discomfort if left untreated. Early treatment can alleviate much of the pain and discomfort associated with this condition.

Health care providers in Anguilla have used the month of October to increase the awareness and knowledge of cancer in Anguilla. This year the focus will be on cervical cancer. Cervical cancer causes significant illness and death in the Caribbean including Anguilla. Many of our mothers, sisters and aunts continue to die from this preventable disease.

Psoriasis (pronounced sore-i-ah-sis) is a common and chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide. This disorder can cause severe emotion and physical impact on individuals with it. Although there is no cure, many of the symptoms can be controlled with treatment.

I can hardly wait for Carnival 2005. It goin be great. Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming (Bunton) seems hell bent on entering the local Calypso Monarch Competition. The boys say he goin sing under the name of the Mighty Bunton. I will not miss that show for the world. I understand his backup vocalists will include Bee, Shirley, Hot Shot-Olive and Edith.

These days I am finding it difficult keeping pace with the acrobatics and somersaulting in Anguilla’s political theatre. A few weeks ago the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) threw out Belto Hughes and replaced him with Walcott Richardson. And now it has thrown out Iwandai Gumbs and replaced him with Evan Gumbs to contest the Valley South seat against Victor Banks. Then we had the United Front dumping Roy Rogers and replacing him with Neil Rogers. Roy has not taken his rejection quietly but instead resigned from the Front, by letter dated 26th June, firing some parting shots. He accused the Front of being “an unprincipled organisation that makes decision based on self-interests rather than on integrity” and emphasised that he “no longer wish[ed] to be associated with this fickle organisation.”

In my legal practice I am often asked to advise non-Anguillians about buying or leasing land in Anguilla. Many people fall in love with our little island and want to obtain a piece of paradise, usually for private residential purposes. Anguilla welcomes persons of good repute who choose to make Anguilla their home in this way and thereby contribute to the economic growth of the country.

The Anguillian economy has seen sustained and strong growth during recent years. One result of this has been a remarkable growth in the number of new businesses which have sprung up in all areas. Restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores, travel agents, trucking companies, auto supplies stores, hardware stores, construction companies - you name it, and chances are that that particular type of business already exists, or someone is thinking about embarking on such a venture.

These days I am feeling as fit as a fiddle. I am now into cycling during the early morning hours. Fritz Smith, my cousin, used to ride with me but he stopped because of the many late hours he spends working on the Wallblake Airport Development Project. Riding with him caused me to realise how well I am doing for a man of my age compared with youngsters like him. I find that he has nothing over me when it comes to cycling. In fact we are about equal. He beats me when we are riding uphill, but he can’t touch me when it comes to riding downhill, especially Sall Hill. No way!

After thirty- seven years of the Anguilla Revolution of May 30th, 1967, the Annual Celebrations continue to be more and more impressive with the Royal Anguilla Police Force and other uniformed Organisations at these parades. Special mention must be made of the various drill performances of the Police Force during these years as they consistently improve these drills year after year. Mention must also be made of the other uniformed Organisations which involve most fittingly the youth of Anguilla.

I join my compatriots in welcoming Governor Alan Huckle and his charming wife, Helen, to Anguilla and wish them both a rewarding stay among us. I am heartened by the Governor’s watchwords with respect to his tenure here: consultation and transparency.

It is no secret that Anguilla has relied heavily upon external assistance and overseas cooperation for just about every aspect of our civil, social, and infrastructural development. Due to the nature of our constitution and the UN charter, much of this reliance has been upon the British, without whose influences, directly or indirectly, we could have been that much more deprived of any kind of development, even since the 1967 revolutionary era.

The 1967 Revolution transformed Anguilla from a Caribbean backwater to a Caribbean paradise. And as we celebrate the thirty-seventh anniversary of that turning point in our history let us give thanks to our revolutionary leaders and freedom fighters for the personal sacrifices they made so that we could live in peace and prosperity.

Every school-day morning, she’d religiously do it again and again. She would gingerly trot up the hill, briskly dressed in high-school garb, pushing her little lady-frame Raleigh by hand until she’d reach the level ground, not far from our front door. Naturally, I’d always admire her elegance and the style of her exquisite poise. Besides, I respected her cautious riding measures, for I knew through experience that to climb that long incline, even in first gear, presented a tiring task. It would be quite an exhausting challenge, especially for this young, slender, delicate teenager named Phyllis.

We are now in that period in our political calendar when Anguillians talk, eat, drink, smell, sleep and feel politics. Even smoke politics. Nowadays Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming’s pipe is constantly on fire. No! On smoke!

Over the past weeks we have looked at a number of areas which were intended to give an introduction to the most basic legal concepts. This will be the last such introductory article before I move on to consider various specific legal topics.

By the time this weekly journal reaches its outlets the National Day of Prayer 2004 would just have been history, having taken place on Thursday May 6th. This, being the 4th annual observance of its kind, puts Anguilla in a privileged position among other states like Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Tortola and the United States, which participate in the event each year.

The caption seeks to stir convincing debate on the cause of remote incidents of crime which have taken place in our small community, here of late. While some folks defend the idea that a lean spell in the economy has contributed significantly to these incidents, it is my opinion that the kind of economy whichkeeps Anguilla going is modestly favorable for the support of those who would diligently seek to be served by it. Further, criminal acts, like those that crop up from time to time, result primarily when the will to do good is overpowered by the will to evil.

To the general public, lawyers may sometimes appear to be a mysterious and cloistered group, shrouded in mystique and governed by a set of rules which the layman finds puzzling and difficult to understand. It might also seem that lawyers converse in a secret language which only they can comprehend, using antiquated words like “notwithstanding”, “hitherto”, and “aforementioned”. Why, you may ask, are laws not written in plain English which everyone can easily grasp? And why do lawyers dress in black gowns and white bands, and address each other as “my learned friend”?

When I heard the harsh exchanges between Hubert Hughes (Leader of Opposition) and another caller on the Talk Your Mind programme, on Wednesday night 7th July, I said to myself that the upcoming elections goin be bitter. Hubert struck the caller a few low punches and it sounded as though they landed where they could hurt most. If that is happening now, before the campaigning starts, one could imagine what will happen when it does start.

There was something about the late Jeremiah Gumbs that on learning of his recent passing tempted me to think that the last Anguillian patriot had fallen. However, I knew that was not true so I tried to put my finger on the quality that had given rise to that sentiment and concluded that it was more than the singular role that remarkable Anguillian had played in our island’s history. Was it his distinctive appearance? That may have had something to do with it because we know what a sensitive issue hair still is to black people and if Cousin Jerry did not possess the qualities of a statesman he was sure to have been suspect on many an occasion. On a black man in the sixties, that beard would have signaled Black Power or some other revolutionary image, and it would have fit too when one considers his role in the Anguilla Revolution. That full beard was a strong part of the image that many Caribbean children have had of the white God we were told lives in the sky. But Jerry Gumbs was not white, did not live in the sky and was no God even though he earned a chapter in the book on Anguilla’s salvation. That was the image of Moses as he descended from Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments and in our infrequent conversations during Mr. Gumbs’ later years, I sometimes discerned the sadness and sometimes the anger that caused Moses to break those stone tablets when he found that Anguillians had begun to worship the golden calf. But Jerry Gumbs was no Moses even though he came from humble beginnings to become Anguilla’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary using his own resources to plead Anguilla’s cause for freedom, just when we needed him most.