Local News

Church leaders in Anguilla and other persons involved in leadership were at a two-day workshop this week, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, which dealt with safeguarding children on the island and in other Overseas Territories.

Representatives of the media in Anguilla were invited by Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, the Hon. Hubert Hughes, to attend the signing ceremony for the Scrub Island project at the Conference Room at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday afternoon, November 2, commencing at 5 o’clock.

The Police report for the period October 26 to November 2 shows that eleven persons were arrested for various offences as follows:

Anguilla is one of the countries that will be observing Caribbean Tourism Month, this November, under the theme: “One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean”. The programme, which is endorsed by the Caribbean Tourism Organization, has as its primary objectives the creation of opportunities to raise awareness among the people of the Caribbean as to the importance of tourism to the development of the region; the generation of media coverage of the Caribbean tourism product and each destination’s local tourism product; and the celebration of the diversity of the Caribbean tourism product.

The Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association are gearing up for the upcoming Annual Tourism Gala and Awards Ceremony, and are pleased to announce the sponsors for 2011. The event will take place at the beautiful Coba Restaurant at Viceory Anguilla, on Thursday December 1st, 2011.

LIME Anguilla has brought the curtains down on an exciting and memorable week of activities in commemoration of 40 years of service to the people of Anguilla. The culminating event was the gala Staff Awards Dinner and Dance held at da ‘Vida Restaurant and Lounge in Crocus Bay on the evening of Saturday 29 October 2011 - exactly 40 years after the company first opened its doors in Anguilla.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital will be the beneficiary of more funds to be raised by AXAPYPL (pronounced axa people) at a two-day medical cultural event dubbed MEDFEST.

The National Bank of Anguilla Ltd has partnered with the Cancer Awareness Steering Committee with it’s campaign drive to promote awareness of cancer, through the adoption of Colon Cancer for the month of November 2011. Through this partnership it is hoped that many persons will have gained a wealth of knowledge about Colon Cancer by the end of the campaign.

“I could take three hours to sum up the world’s economy, but I haven’t three hours. I will take three seconds: things are bad,” Governor Alistair Harrison told offshore financial services industry officials. He was at the time delivering an address at the annual meeting of the private and public sector representatives at Blue Ridge Conference Centre at South Hill on October 28.

Just like the old days Anacaona Boutique Hotel has had a busy couple of months and reopened this week after an extensive redecorating and improvement programme – most of which was undertaken by its regular staff. The charming boutique hotel was able to keep most of its 40 staff employed over the summer – but doing jobs that they normally don’t do! Sue Ricketts the owner of Anacaona said: “It reminded me of our early days in Anguilla, when we first opened Cap Juluca, because everyone worked together to get things done. We had cooks helping decorate the bathrooms, waiters gardening and everyone was painting. We couldn’t have achieved what we did in just three months without our incredibly hard working staff.”

The ALHCS Technology Club members, Brandon Levon, Johvie Martin, Jervonie Vanterpool and Romaro Richardson display the cheque awarded for their prize winning collage. The Club took first place in the 2011 Wider Caribbean LBS Protocol Collage Competition organized by UNEP’s Caribbean Environmental Programme. Its collage entry won from among entries submitted by over eight other countries from the wider Caribbean.

On Friday 21 October 2011, Optimist members representing the Kids For The Future JOOI Club (Junior Optimists), the Young Adults Optimist Club and the Optimist Club of Anguilla, joined with staff of the Anguilla National Trust (ANT) on a tree planting exercise at The Valley Primary School. The small group of dedicated civic-minded individuals planted three flamboyant trees in honour of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai who passed away in Nairobi Kenya on 25 Sept 2011.

In a meeting held last Tuesday at St. Barthélemy's City Hall, the Directorates of Tourism from the islands of Saba, St. Martin, St Eustatius and Anguilla confirmed their interest in Regional cooperation with regards to the subject of tourism.

Seven members of staff of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (DFMR), along with four staff members of the Department of Environment and the Anguilla National Trust, recently attended a local training workshop in fisheries management.

Members of the Health and Wellness Committee at Cap Juluca, on Tuesday, presented a cheque for EC$4,000.00 to Women With Heart Inc. The monies were raised during the October 13th “Walk of Hope” as part of the activities for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the presentation also marked the end of the month- long series of activities.

The Environmental Health Unit of the Department of Health Protection climaxed its Vector Awareness Month with a closing ceremony at the Rodney Mac Arthur Rey Auditorium on Friday, October 28. At the event, the 2011 winners of the various competitions, held as part of the series of activities, were announced.

Come this Saturday, in the early morning, residents in the Sandy Hill and Sea Feather’s areas will turn out with rakes, forks and bags to begin removing large quantities of sea moss now piled up, in some cases at a height of about three feet, at Sandy Hill Beach. The smelly debris is part of a phenomenon in which the beaches of Anguilla, and a number of other Caribbean islands, have been invaded by tons of the sea moss which washed ashore in the region and which is still coming in.

LIME Anguilla (formerly Cable and Wireless) began a week-long series of special activities on Sunday, October 23, in observance of its 40th Anniversary. That was when past and present staff members worshipped at St. Mary’s Anglican Church where they were welcomed by Rev. Menes Hodge.

Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, has described the just-released $2 coin by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank as a collector’s item. He made the statement at the launching of the coin, to celebrate ten years of Financial Information Month, at the ECCB’s representative office in Anguilla on Wednesday, October 19.

A capacity crowd turned up at the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church at George Hill, Anguilla, on Sunday, October 23, in celebration of its 35th Anniversary. Those in attendance included Elected Representatives Othlyn Vanterpool (District 1, Island Harbour) and Jerome Roberts (District 2, Sandy Hill); persons from various churches on the island, including Pastor Cecil Richardson of Central Baptist Church at Rey Hill, as well as a delegation from Bethel Baptist Church in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.