News

Caribbean Cable Communications (CCC) will be introducing two new calling plans unprecedented in Anguilla as of May1, 2007. The announcement was made on Tuesday this week by the recently-appointed Corporate General Manager, Chris Graves, who has 25 years experience at AT&T in the United States, and Barbara Owen, Director of Operations for the Anguilla, Nevis and Montserrat branches.

Two top officers of the Royal Anguilla Police Force announced on Wednesday this week that with immediate effect the police will be responding to demands by the public for more information on criminal activity through regular press briefings.
The pledge was made by Deputy Commissioner Illidge Richardson and Superintendent Rudolph Proctor, who is also Head of the Drugs and Firearms Task Force. Following the announcement, they took turns to report on various matters of crime on the island.

An Internet Governance Ministerial Briefing Seminar, organised by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), opened at Paradise Cove Resort in Anguilla on Tuesday evening with an impressive escort of dignitaries by young uniformed members of the Pathfinders and salutes from three of their drummers.

Anguilla’s Chief Minister, the Hon. Osbourne Fleming, has made the point that the need to have in place a well-designed and effective constitution, demands the involvement of everyone and that such participation must be free from all political leanings. He made the statement at the Stoney Ground School Auditorium on Monday evening this week as a fresh round of town hall meetings commenced to consult the public on the constitutional report presented by the Commission to Government and to hear the views of the people.

The Government of Anguilla held a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Conference Room on Wednesday to discuss several issues of national importance relative to Crime. This Meeting lasted for three hours and was held in an effort to afford Ministers, shareholders and stakeholders of Anguilla to seek measures and policies to mitigate the rising tide of criminal activities particularly the upsurge in gun related robberies. The meeting was considered timely and will achieve relevance beyond this particular time.

Come the middle of August this year, the 45-year-old Anguillian-owned Rendezvous Bay Hotel and Villas will be closed for just over two years. This will allow for a massive reconstruction and upgrading programme costing 536 million US dollars, all funded by the family of developers. The new luxury project is already being marketed abroad and an attractive marketing centre has been constructed from where sales are being handled by a team from Boutique Club International.

School children in the Anguilla education system, from pre-school to secondary level, will join their counterparts in the region in participating in a United Nations Public Awareness Campaign called Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School.

This year there have been two changes to the Palm Sunday procession which originally involved the congregations of St. Mary’s Anglican Church and St. Gerard’s Roman Catholic Church.

Spectators marvelled at the impressive and colourful parade of athletes as they wended their way to the James Ronald Webster Park on Tuesday, March 3, for the Cable and Wireless sponsored Inter-House Athletic Competition of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School.

Some 112 students in the upper classes of three primary schools in Anguilla have graduated from a nine-week Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) course conducted by officers of the Royal Anguilla Police Force.

Mrs. Arina Melvina Webster, formerly of Island Harbour, is the latest Anguillian to attain the grand senior age of 100 years and to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth The Second. She is the proud recipient of a special Birthday Card sent by Her Majesty from Buckingham Palace in London.

On Thursday, March 22, a press conference was held at the Anguilla Tennis Academy’s new facility in Blowing Point to announce the recipients of three scholarships for the acclaimed ATA After School Programme. Some time ago, it was announced in The Anguillian and The Daily Herald that Paul Lowerre, Senior Vice-President for UBS Financial Services, graciously donated USD $30,000 to start a Youth Endowment Scholarship Fund for children who want to play tennis. It is the interest from that endowment that has already given the opportunity to begin a selection process for three young children.

The Anguilla Government is supporting the August summer festival for several reasons. One, it is rooted in the celebration of freedom from slavery and this year in particular is significant as it marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.

Five new school buses costing over US$300,000 were handed over to the Education Department on Wednesday, March 21, to provide a high level of improved transportation for the children. Two of the vehicles were donated by the KOR/Viceroy Group represented by Vice President, Alex Samek, and the other three were purchased by the Anguilla Government.

It is now 17 years since Anguilla’s internationally known entertainer, Bankie Banks, established his popular Moonsplash festival which attracts thousands of people to Anguilla every year in the month of March, thus significantly contributing to the island’s tourist numbers and foreign exchange.

Women in Anguilla are taking every step to ensure that their rights, freedoms and privileges are respected and protected and they are shielded from exploitation and abuse in all of its forms. There was no better opportunity for them to re-emphasise this commitment to themselves than the observance of International Women’s Day on March 9.

“The competition for a spot in the Anguilla National Culinary Team is fierce” said Executive Director of the AHTA, Trudy Nixon “the judges and organizers are very impressed with the level of talent and commitment that is being shown this year– it’s going to be a very close run thing” With only 4 spots to be awarded and 12 chefs competing for those spots – the competition is getting harder and harder every week.

Members of the 52-strong staff at the Caribbean Commercial Bank performed in such a striking manner in their Gospel Extravaganza Concert on Thursday, March 8, that it sent the large crowd in attendance rocking and clapping in their seats or to their feet in prolonged applause.

Limestone Bay Café, one of the island’s popular local restaurants and situated at one of the quietest locations, was the venue this week of a retreat by members of the House of Assembly to discuss the proposed amendments to the Anguilla Constitution.

The Teacher Gloria Omolulu Institute, which has been experiencing accommodation and other related difficulties over the years, is now to have its own permanent home – a new classroom building on land provided in a lease by the Anguilla Government.
The lease agreement was signed in the Executive Council Chambers on Tuesday this week by Governor Andrew George along with Foster Rogers, Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, and Dr. O. M. Linda Banks, founder of the school. The agreement was witnessed by Barrister-at-Law Courtney Abel, Chairperson of the school’s steering committee. Director of Lands and Surveys, Gifford Connor, was present in his role as Commissioner of Oaths.