Local News

The first public meeting called by the Commission will be held at the main conference room at the Teachers’ Resource Centre on Saturday 4 March 2006, at 7:30 pm.

Digicel Anguilla has committed to making this Easter Weekend unforgettable with the sponsorship of the world’s hottest reggae group Morgan Heritage. The show will be held Sunday, April 16th at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Center.

The steady fleet of executive jets flying into Wallblake Airport from the United States and other parts of the world, following the extension of the runway just over a year ago, has been accentuated by the landing of a Boeing 737-200 jet on a direct chartered flight from La Guardia, New York.

Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, told the House of Assembly on Tuesday, February 21, that the Anguilla Government had worked extremely hard to ensure that in terms of national development, the administration could achieve its objective of creating a level of independence in financial matters.

A prominent official in the region says the Anguilla Development Board (ADB) is doing a good job for the people of the island. He is Tony Maugh, Head of the Private Sector Division of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank. He was speaking on Monday, February 20, at the opening of three short workshops at the Teachers’ Resource Centre for ADB personnel and small business operators.

It is early yet, but the committee and sub-committees tasked with bringing this year’s Summer Festival to fruition have now commenced their work for the July/August cultural events.

The Anguilla Beautification Club held its Seventh Flower & Garden Show at Wallblake House and grounds – the premises of St. Gerard’s Roman Catholic Church – over the weekend, February 18 and 19. The two-day event had as its theme: A garden: nature’s remedy for stress.

Three Sixth Form students of the Literary and Debating Society of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School and their supporters, including Principal Darwin Hazell, are in Antigua for the Leeward Islands Debating Competition.

Trudy Nixon has replaced Anne Van Deventer- Rabatin as the new Executive Director of the AHTA. Trudy is a senior communications professional with over 20 years experience working in a range of marketing and communications roles in London, England. Most recently she has been working for a UK-based travel business on assignments in Europe and the Dominican Republic. She is a frequent visitor to Anguilla and so will be a familiar face to many.

As the date draws near for Moonsplash, a musical and cultural festival by Anguilla’s internationally-known entertainer, Bankie Banx, Michelle Lake of Anguilla Building Supplies (ABC), has made a welcome contribution to the event.

As part of the tenth anniversary programme, past president Avon Carty organized a movie night for members of the Optimist Club of Anguilla as well as the Junior Optimist members, and all the other young people who have been involved in Optimist projects and programmes over the past 10 years.

Road Bay Beach is looking fine following the cleaning of the area by The Fire Ants Football Team of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School. Part of the Johnno’s Beach Clean Up Campaign, the work was sponsored by Digicel and took place from early on Saturday morning, February 18.

Anguilla is in the course of developing a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) which will have positive results for the island’s tourism industry. A workshop towards that end was held at Paradise Cove on Tuesday, February 21 under the auspices of the Department of Environment, an arm of the Chief Minister’s Office. The participants were drawn from various disciplines in the public and private sectors.

Anguilla is getting a huge amount of well-needed publicity following the commencement of a public service announcement by the island’s Tennis Academy.

The Anguilla Development Board (ADB) is to borrow five million Eastern Caribbean dollars from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for on-lending to Anguillians to finance various private-sector projects as well as educational opportunities. A Motion to this effect is to be introduced in the island’s House of Assembly for ratification by Minister of Finance, Victor Banks on Tuesday, February 21.

The Inter-American Economic Council has announced the selection of Mr. Allen Stanford as the 2006 recipient of the Excellence in Leadership Award. The presentation was made in Washington, DC on February 9.

A press release from the Department of Public Administration states that the Government of Anguilla continues to recognize and support the need to educate Anguillians thereby equipping them to hold key positions on the Island. Government has invested a considerable amount of money in training Anguillians and is presently assisting one hundred (100) students in the UK, USA, Canada, India and the Caribbean, with funding for their studies.

The Executive Council has taken the decision to relocate all cargo operations to the Road Bay Port at Sandy Ground until a new cargo port at Corito is provided.

Two workshops held in Anguilla this week have pointed to food safety and the need for breast-feeding as two areas of concern for the Government and people of the island to continue to take note of. Both workshops were conducted by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) in collaboration with the Environmental Health Unit and the Health Authority of Anguilla.

The Caribbean Commercial Bank is one of the five-star sponsors of the National Sports Awards to be presented to a number of deserving persons on February 24 at LA Café. The Bank has contributed US$2,000 in sponsorship funds.