Local News

Four top Anguillian public servants held discussions in London this week in connection with the development of Wallblake Airport and on several other matters related to the Strategic Country Programme Initiative.

“You made me like cricket,” a middle-aged Anguillian woman shouted as Omari Banks approached the mammoth and jubilant crowd at Wallbalke Airport which accorded him a hero’s welcome home from a test series between the West Indies and Australia and one day international matches against Sri Lanka and Australia. Another expression of jubilation rang out over the den of voices, horns and music: “America has Michael Jordan, her basketball hero, and Anguilla has Omari Banks, her cricket hero.”

Bishop of the Diocese of the Northeastern Caribbean and Aruba, the Right Reverend Errol Brooks, called on men with Christian values to be role models for upcoming youngsters whom he urged to become involved in the positive things and values of life.
The Anguillian top Cleric was at the time delivering a Father’s Day sermon at St. Mary’s Anglican Church. He spoke about the responsibilities of fathers in the home, the church and community. He noted that a number of them had fallen short of their commitment thus creating bad experiences for their children and a souring of relationships among the family in general.

Clement Ruan, Managing Director of D-3 Enterprises, was the speaker at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, East End on Sunday June 15. In a Father’s Day message he expressed the view that fathering does not require a biological connection between a child and a male figure.

A Father’s Day related programme at the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church held under the auspices of the Family Life Department, focused on the theme: “Men in the Home and in our Society.”

Omari Banks is to be the official spokesperson for the National Bank of Anguilla (NBA). On Saturday June 14 at the annual staff retreat a contract was signed for EC$10,000 for one year.

Anguilla’s upcoming international cricketer, Omari Banks, who left the island on Tuesday for St. Lucia, where the fourth test match West Indies vs Sri Lanka will be played, was the recipient of several gifts in appreciation for his selection and performance.

DIRECTV Caribbean has given free installation and a lifetime of free television service to Omari Banks in recognition of his outstanding performance in the test match in Antigua – West Indies vs Australia.

The Environmental Health Unit has expressed its concerns about the continuous littering of beaches after activities such as boat racing, beach parties and barbecues. Often the garbage is piled up in an area that does not usually have an actual collection, so it is not picked up. Persons who organise such activities on the beach or other places are required to make arrangements for it to be disposed of properly; this would mean taking the garbage to a bin, or having a contractor collect it, or have it carried to the landfill disposal site at Corito.

Nisha John of South Hill is the 2003 winner of the Miss Venus Competition held at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre last weekend. She will be representing Anguilla at the Miss Venus Model Competition to be held in Jacksonville, Florida.

Man and his three black dogs? That is what you would think if you were to view Kitto/ St. Kitts (Cecil Edwards) from afar. A closer look would reveal that one of the big ‘dogs’ is really a lamb that answers to the name Doo.

Civil Society in Anguilla has been afforded an opportunity to take its concerns about self-determination and other issues directly to the General Body of the United Nations Special Committee of 24 on Decolonisation in New York. These concerns were presented by Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks on Thursday morning June 12 in a statement which she had previously delivered to the UN Caribbean Regional Seminar held in Anguilla on May 20-22.

As excitement reached fever pitch over the homecoming of Anguilla’s first West Indies Test Cricketer, Omari Banks has also been receiving attention overseas. This is a result of an article published in the June 2nd edition of the Express newspaper in Trinidad.

Minister of Finance Victor Banks, responded to requests made by listeners of Talk Your Mind that he should appear on the weekly talk show to answer questions about the liberalisation of the telecommunications market in Anguilla and the increased fees agreed to between Government and Cable & Wireless.

One of the complaints relating to the environment in Anguilla is the large number of derelict vehicles strewn around various parts of the island. Several efforts, initiated by the Ministry of Infrastructure with the involvement of the Environmental Health Unit and the support of vehicle owners, have been made in the past to deal with the situation. Although many wrecks were removed and taken to the Corito landfill where they were crushed and buried, there are still more junk yards here and there.

Merville King, 26, of South Hill, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday, June 11 for the murder of Cynthia Wade of Long Ground, who was in her early 20s when the incident occurred on February 03, 2002.

A new definitive issue of postage stamps, recording an important part of the sea-faring history of Anguilla, was launched at a brief ceremony at the General Post Office on Tuesday June 9. The 2003 definitives will be in circulation for five years and have replaced the Fruits of Anguilla issue which ran its five-year course.

The Bethel Methodist Church will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary with a week of activities as follows:

The Whit Monday holiday was a time of fun for many in Anguilla with a number of social activities in various parts of the island.

With plans now advanced for the establishment of an autonomous Health Authority to take over the running of the medical and health services from the Anguilla Government, the Nurses at the Princess Alexandra Hospital are busily preparing themselves for the eventual transition. On Wednesday, June 4, Chief Nursing Officer, Serene Carter-Davis and Matron Alma Hughes led ten Senior Nurses at a Managers’ Day Workshop at the Teachers’ Resource Centre at which several local facilitators delivered presentations to the health workers.