Local News

The recently concluded Leeward Islands Calypso competition received a boost from NAGICO in the form of a donation which went towards honouring King Ellie Matt, one of the Leeward Island’s calypso pioneers.

The Anguilla Amateur Netball Association’s (AANA) Under 13 Netball team has benefitted from a donation from NAGICO Insurances. The funds for the team’s uniforms for the upcoming Under 13 Regional Netball Tournament were handed over recently and the team is set to leave on August 15th for the competition in Dominica.

Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, and Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Victor Banks, told reporters on Monday that the agreement which the Anguilla delegation signed in London last week with the Chinese Business Network (CBN) was for tourism promotion only. They gave the hasty explanation at the Chief Minister’s press conference in response to opposition charges and public fears that under the agreement local businesses would be at risk and eventually the island “would be swamped” by competing Chinese business investments.

Anguilla’s Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, speaking on behalf of Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, said that the island, like other OECS member territories, had concerns with ways and means of dealing with issues regarding the movement of persons throughout the sub-region.

Anguilla’s Parliamentarian, the Hon. Edison Baird, is back home recuperating well from injuries he sustained in a vehicular accident in the Water Swamp area on June 4. Since then he had been receiving treatment in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
The Road North Elected Representative was met at Wallblake Airport on his arrival on Sunday, July 26, by a large number of persons from his constituency and from among the general public.

Criminal activities for the period July 21 to 28 totaled seven with theft heading the list. There were four cases of theft with the thieves focusing on North Side, South Hill, South Valley and Blowing Point. They made off with a bicycle, a compressor, a television, a generator and cash.

As many will remember, the Anguilla Social Security Board completed an important measurement phase of its strategic plan in the last several months. With the gracious participation of individual contributors/beneficiaries, employers, institutional stakeholders, and the input of the Social Security staff in a combination of Balanced Scorecard surveys – they were poised for customer-driven changes throughout the organization.

However much and desirable the diversification of Anguilla's economy may be, the tourist industry, now accounting for some two-thirds of the GDP, will be the mainstay of the island’s economic development for the foreseeable future.

"ALLOW US TO BORROW, OR WE WILL DI TI OURSELVES," ANGUILLA DELEGATION TELLS BRITISH OFFICIALS

At the end of the discussions in London which involved the Anguilla delegation and the British Government, the cordial relationship remained intact, but there was obviously a considerable amount of frank and strong talk between both sides at the table.

A number of inter-government agencies in Anguilla participated in a “table top” and mock exercise in the event of a disaster, such as fire, involving the island’s ferryboats travelling between Blowing Point and the St. Martin/St. Maarten.

Volume one of Little Ole Anguilla, a collection of plays and skits by Colonel Harrigan, an Anguillian playwright and dramatist of the late 1970s, is now available at the purchase price of US$10.00.

The Police Marine Unit, Fire Service and the Department of Disaster Management, in Anguilla, have all benefitted from training in the latest techniques and support provided during this week’s visit by RFA Fort George, a Royal Fleet Navy Auxiliary Ship, on a service tour to the Caribbean Overseas Territories. The ship arrived in Anguilla on Sunday, July 26, for a four-day visit.

The meeting started at 7:45 pm at the Slough Methodist Church Hall on Ledgers Road. The Honourable Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming opened the meeting in prayer after the chairman Mr. Claude Brooks gave the welcome. The hall was filled to capacity with over sixty persons present.

The Valley Anguilla: July 27, 2009 LIME’s scorching hot Summer Promotion tagged ‘U R it’, has become an instant hit and customers are thrilled to be winning from the exciting list of weekly prizes. The prize line-up will appeal to every LIME customer and includes cash, BlackBerry Devices, digital cameras and vouchers for spa services, groceries, petrol and school supplies which will be available just in time for the new school year. Five (of six) week one and two winners were presented with their prizes at Telecoms House in The Valley on Monday July 27 2009.

At the end of July 2009, Lloyd’s Bed & Breakfast marks the 50th year anniversary since opening in July 1959. This small quaint inn, which is one of the 17 Charming Escapes Collection properties, offers visitors accommodations with traditional Anguillian home hospitality and exceptional guest services.

Anguilla’s capacity to handle a real life disaster at sea was tested on Wednesday this week when a locally-owned ferryboat, Samanta, was used for the purpose of the drill exercise in the channel between Blowing Point Port and Marigot, St. Martin.

Opposition Member in the Anguilla House of Assembly, Hubert Hughes, is critical of the Anguilla Government’s decision to request the British Government to relax its borrowing guidelines to accommodate the financial needs of the island.

Archaeologists from the University of Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology are finishing a three week survey documenting the island’s underwater heritage. The team leader is Lilli Azevedo-Grout, a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton. The project was sponsored by the University and the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society. Financial and in-kind support from the Government of Anguilla, Governor’s Office, Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, and individuals living on Anguilla have made this project possible.

On Saturday July 25th the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society conducted a field trip for a number of children, and their parents, to the site where El Buen Consejo wrecked on the coast of Anguilla in 1772. The trip began in Island Harbour with a fifteen minute introduction by UK Maritime Archaeologist Lilli Azevedo-Grout who explained how the ship wrecked and what we could learn from the site today. The children and their chaperones then carpooled to the end of the road to Junks Hole and carefully hiked to the site. At the site the students learned how artefacts are recorded in situ and their locations plotted with GPS.

LIME, the new telecommunications company, which took over from Cable and Wireless, has made sizeable donations to three recipients in relation to culture.
Country Manager in Anguilla, Mark Romney, prefaced his remarks on Wednesday, July 29, by stating that the company had begun to step up its presence in the market in terms of brand awareness. “You will notice some billboards depicting our UFO, the racing boat we sponsor and known to be number one for quite some time,” he said. That sponsorship for the August season races is US$8,000.