News

The National Bank of Anguilla has taken the opportunity of the attractiveness of the island to investors to re-launch its Investment Services, a move which adds to the Bank’s advertised theme that it “is more than banking.”
The Investment Services Launch took place at CuisinArt Resort & Spa on Tuesday evening and was attended by Government officials and members of the business community.

When the three new piers are fully completed, linked together and operational, the Blowing Point Harbour will be a pride of this island and its people and a delight to visitors travelling between Anguilla and St. Martin/St. Maarten. This of course is the first phase of a larger project which will later include other contracts for the upgrading of buildings and the development of the land side to provide for boutiques, other tourism facilities and for vehicle parking. Some land acquisition by Government will be necessary to facilitate part of the development work.

Anguilla joined the eight other jurisdictions of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on Tuesday, February 27, in celebrating its 40th Anniversary with a Thanksgiving Service at St. Mary’s Anglican Church and a Special Sitting of the Court.

There is a considerable amount of mourning in Anguilla over the tragic death of a promising athlete, Chezroy Desouza, of Blowing Point, who died in a road accident on the Jeremiah Highway on Saturday, February 24.

The renowned Marriott Group of luxury hotel properties is anxious to have a resort in Anguilla, Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming was told on Tuesday, February 20.

Ministers of Government and other officials, residents from West End, two lawyers and a representative of Viceroy met on Monday, February 19, to discuss several problems arising from the construction work at Barns Bay. The matters included complaints about the dust nuisance experienced by a number of persons, public access difficulties and claims of encroachment on private lands.

The Government of Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming faced a barrage of thorny issues put forward by residents of West End and Long Bay at the first of a series of town hall meetings organised to hear and address matters of concern to the people of Anguilla.

Currently, as part of the Dutch Netherlands Kingdom, St. Maarten has a shared functioning social security system in place; but when the island becomes a territory by itself, it may need to have a system to call its own. It is with this in view that the Leader of Government there, Sarah Westcott Williams, on behalf of the Cabinet invited Anguilla’s Director of Social Security, Timothy Hodge, to deliver a presentation to the St. Maarten Government.

At a 25th Anniversary press conference held by NAGICO (National General Insurance Corporation) at Fair Play Management Services in Anguilla on Tuesday this week, insured customer, Stanley Mussington, gave a wide-ranging ‘thank you’ for all the assistance, care and support he had received following a devastating accident last year.

The private residence of Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, at Seafeathers, was the venue for a retreat by Ministers and Officials of Government on Tuesday afternoon this week, February 6. The mass group meeting was called by Mr. Fleming to examine various issues and problems facing the island and to find common ground for solutions and fresh policies. The retreat also follows much criticism of Government in recent times among the citizenry.

In three weeks, another dwelling house in Anguilla has been destroyed by fire leaving the occupants homeless and robbed of their personal belongings. This time it is Dorcity Connor (Dots) and her daughter Cherie. They were residing at North Valley in rented accommodation owned by Victor Richardson.

Chairman of the Ethics Committee in Anguilla, retired OECS Judge, Don Mitchell, says the three-member body appointed during the time of Governor Alan Huckle does not have the power to do an effective job and is therefore weak and pointless.
“The Public Service Integrity Board was established under the Public Service Integrity Act.

Former Chairman of the now disbanded Anguilla Constitutional Reform Commission, Don Mitchell, says he is relieved by the immediate solving by Government of what he refers to as the recent “constitutional crisis” and that Chief Minister, the Hon. Osbourne Fleming, is a statesman for quickly defusing the situation.

Cable and Wireless in Anguilla has introduced new cutting edge technology that enables its customers to use their compatible mobile phones to send instant photos and other imagery to other users.

There has been much talk in Anguilla over the past several days following the laying off of 53 Dominican Republic construction workers who have been employed on the Temenos-St. Regis Retreat and Golf Club project. They were released from their jobs on Friday, January 19, as a number of Chinese nationals took up employment there.

Three members of a family, in Anguilla, have lost their home and everything they possessed to a fire despite the swift action of fire and police personnel.
Vera Harrigan, who sustained burns on her face, arms and legs as she made her escape from the flames, was living in the two-bedroom apartment with her two young children, a boy and a girl Devaune and Didricke Mussington.

The lightning growth of the Social Security System in Anguilla is one of the prides of the island as it prepares to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution, which has brought about immense prosperity for the people. It is of much interest that the Revolutionary Leader, James Ronald Webster, is the architect of Social Security the 25th Anniversary of which is now being celebrated.

The first batch of Chinese construction workers for the St. Regis/Temenos (Flag) project has arrived in Anguilla and further batches are expected shortly. The new set of foreign employers crowded the porch and reception areas of the Social Security Office late last week to receive their cards and numbers for the employee/employer contributions to the Social Security System.

The Anguilla Government has given enthusiastic support to an announcement by the principals of Conch Bay Development Ltd., an Anguillian-owned company, of their plans to develop the Forest Estate which is in the ownership of the much-respected Lake & Kentish family.

Fritz Smith, Director of Construction, Housing and Estates Facilities Management in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities, Housing, Agriculture and Fisheries for a number of years, says he is proud of the 24 years of national service he gave to the Government and people of Anguilla as a public servant and that he leaves the civil service with a clear conscience.