Local News

If there is ever one thing that Darwin Hazell, Principal of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, will cherish long after his retirement, will be the high esteem and love he was accorded by his teaching staff during his years of service there.
Always wishing to show their high regard for him, they re-named Valentine’s Day as Principal’s Day in his honour, though keeping largely the traditional colours of the February 14 occasion.

The final competition for the Kool FM Miss Valentine 2006 took place on Saturday, February 11. Three semi-finalists, Latoya Richardson, Danielle Connor and Bernadette Headley, were drawn from among several others18 years and over, who correctly answered questions during the weekly Ladies Hour live show.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director of Migration for the Overseas Territories, Mrs. Denise Holt, visited Anguilla from February 10-11 as part of a tour which included visits to Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands.

Ralph Hodge, a former Permanent Secretary, who contested the General Elections in February 2005, as a candidate of the Anguilla National Strategic Alliance (ANSA), says the island’s young people need to be given a type of hope that would address the problems they face and the deviant behaviour they often demonstrate.

Britain’s first female Governor in the Overseas Territories, Her Excellency, Deborah Barnes-Jones, says exciting times lie ahead this year for Montserrat where she is serving. The career diplomat, with 20 years of service with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, made the statement in Anguilla over the past weekend.

At a meeting on Monday, February 13, the elected members of the Board of Directors of the Anguillla Chamber of Commerce and Industry were appointed to run the affairs of the organisation for the next calendar year.

Just to the immediate north of the Welches Polyclinic in Anguilla is the newly-completed First Baptist Church which was dedicated on Sunday, February 12, with a capacity congregation in attendance at the service.

The appointment has been announced of Conrad Gumbs as the new Superintendent of Her Majesty’s Prison. He succeeds former Police Commissioner, Mitchell Harrigan, who held the post temporarily.

Two students at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School have emerged with the fun titles of Miss and Mr.Valentine, following annual show at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre and are proud of it.

The people of Anguilla are once again caught up in a constitutional and electoral review following the Government’s decision to reinvigorate the process which was started by a previous committee under the chairmanship of David Carty.

A four-day workshop aimed at strengthening laboratory services in the private and public sectors opened in Anguilla on Tuesday, January 31, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre. It is being facilitated by the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in association with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) and is part of a regional undertaking funded by the European Union.

The Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its Annual General Meeting at Deon’s Overlook Restaurant at South Hill on Tuesday, January 31 under the chairmanship of Executive Director, Calvin Bartlett.

Parliamentary Secretary, Albert Hughes, who has responsibility for agriculture and other subjects, has called on the people of the island to put their hands to the plough in two ways. In one sense, he is asking them to raise their voices against violence involving young people and in another, to partner with Government in the development of Anguilla.

FirstCaribbean International Bank has a new Country Head in Anguilla. Miss Marie Rey has been appointed to this position with effect from January 16th. Miss Rey will also manage the Bank’s branch in the Valley.

The Health Authority of Anguilla held a quarterly meeting of its heads of department and managers on January 27 at Paradise Cove under the leadership of the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, Dexter James.

The Royal Anguilla Police Force observed its 34th Anniversary last week under the theme Police and the Community the Right Mix for Police Week 2006. For the first time, the organising committee came up with the idea of an activity “for children only” as part of its week of activities.

Another milestone in the history of the Social Security System was observed this week: the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the Social Security Office on February 1st 1981 with the employment of its first member of staff, Mr. Timothy Hodge. The opening of the Office followed the passage of the Social Security Act No. 13 of 1980 on November 3rd 1980, and the appointment of the first Social Security Board on January 22nd 1981.

Anguilla’s Acting Chief Minister, Victor Banks, says the mission of the Government and people of the island must now be “forward and upward, growing from strength to strength.”

There was a presentation of prizes on the ground of Police Headquarters on Wednesday, February 1, following the drawing of raffles at the end of Police Week on Saturday, January 28.

The largest and most ambitious public sector infrastructure project to be undertaken by the Anguilla Government is to be a seaport development taking in Road Bay, Blowing Point and Corito, each area to have its own facilities and functions. While the bigger portions of the project will not start until the next few years, the groundwork is already being laid with the appointment of the Anguilla Port Development Project Board to advise on the way forward and later to oversee the implementation of the project.