Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/2777/-1/135/
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Discussion On Bills Begin At East End
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On Tuesday, September 6, the Government side of the Anguilla House of Assembly kept its promise made on August 23 to begin a series of public discussions on the Labour Code Bill, 2005 and the Physical Planning Bill, 2005 which have already received their first reading. Notably absent, however, were the Opposition Members who had indicated their willingness to participate in the town meetings. The aim is for the elected representatives to get the views and input of the people on the draft legislation which was previously discussed at policy level by administrative personnel with members of the public.
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Members of the public asking questions about the legislation
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Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, whose Ministry is responsible for both Bills, described The Labour Code Bill as very extensive, covering the interests of both employer and employee. “Over the last three to four years we have seen the labour situation in Anguilla change dramatically and it is going to get worse,” he told some 40 persons at the meeting at the Morris Vanterpool Primary School. “What I mean is that labour is becoming a very important issue in Anguilla’s development…We have moved this island very rapidly and to that end the need for labour has increased significantly…As we stand, we cannot take any more investments in Anguilla in certain areas right now and to that end the Labour Code addresses the concerns of our people in the workplace. This code seeks to ensure that the people of Anguilla are treated well and that there is a law to safeguard them against certain difficulties which may arise.”
Mr. Fleming emphasised that the Bill was also protective of the interests of employers and the principle of a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. He explained that there was no provision in the Bill for a minimum wage which was a separate matter and would be addressed later. He also spoke about the need for Government to control the importation of labour to lessen the social problems which could arise in Anguilla. He said the island’s work permit system had been disadvantaged and there was now every reason to tighten the regulations. He invited the attendees of the meeting to offer any views on the Labour Code, assuring them that their comments would be taken into account before the enactment of the Bill.
There were many questions from among those at the meeting, chaired by Public Relations Officer, Curtis Richardson. Replies were given by Chief Minister Fleming, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Victor Banks, and Labour Commissioner, Evalie Bradley.
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Head Table L-R: Evalie Bradley, Curtis Richardson, CM Osbourne Fleming, Hon. Victor Banks and Hon. Kenneth Harrigan
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A member of the East End community commented that there was much concern among employers about persons who, having obtained a work permit through a particular employer, then switch from one workplace to another. The speaker asked what provision was in the Bill to address this matter.
Replying, Mrs. Bradey, said it would be dealt with in the coming regulations under the Bill. She said it was a very unfair practice by someone who came to the island on a work permit at the expense of the employer. At the same time she cautioned that employers must be very honest in dealing with work permit holders, noting that in some cases because they came in from overseas they were being held at ransom and exploited. She pointed to another “very dishonest practice” where some employers invite persons to Anguilla under the pretence that they are coming for vacation, but shortly afterwards a work permit shows up at the Labour Office for them. “That I think is very dishonest and makes the Labour Administration look as though we are ignorant, and I really take strong objection to employers bringing persons here under that kind of pretence,” she added.
Following discussions on the Labour Code Bill, the meeting dealt with the Physical Planning Bill. Chief Minister Fleming took the opportunity to commend the Physical Planning Department for its tremendous amount of work and for ensuring that the island was being developed in the right way.
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L-R: Pansy and Allister Richardson and Marie Horsford
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He said the Bill was long in coming and had taken four years to be on decided on. “As a Government we were very cautious and afraid to bring it to the House of Assembly because of the rumours out in the community,” he admitted. “I have now had a chance to read the Bill and, believe you me, it is something we need.”
Mr. Fleming requested Mr. Banks to read the objects and reasons for the Bill. In doing so Banks stated that over the four years there had been a lot of concern on the political, social and economic levels, as well as among certain landowners, over the proposed implementation of the Bill. He said, however, that the Government had reached a stage where it could no longer delay in ensuring that “the Planning Department has the teeth it requires to make sure that physical planning is allowed to function.”
Mr. Banks said that before the drafting of the Bill, the Executive Council was responsible for appeals against decisions of the Land Development Control Committee and that for years that Committee had been concerned about the political element in dealing with some of the issues. He explained that the Bill now sought to remove some of that political element in the appeal process which he thought was desirable. He noted, however, that Government still had the opportunity in terms of national development to determine what kind of physical and land use planning the island needed.
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In the foreground Sharon Roberts-Joseph and Vincent Proctor of the Physical Planning Department
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Banks said that among the reasons for the Bill were: to facilitate a continuous improvement in the quality of life for every person in Anguilla; to provide for the orderly efficient and equitable allocation of development resources of Anguilla, taking into account all the relevant, social and economic and environmental factors so as to ensure that sustainable use is made in the interest of all the people of Anguilla; to maintain and improve the quality of the physical environment within which human settlements are situated in Anguilla; to provide for the orderly sub-division of land and the provision of services thereto; to secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of persons in or about buildings and others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings; to protect and conserve the cultural heritage of Anguilla and to find expression in the natural and the built environment and foster awareness that all persons and organisations holding, occupying and developing land, have a duty to use that land with due regard for the wider interest both of the present and future of society.
Director of Physical Planning, Vincent Proctor, joined the head table to assist in responding to various searching questions from the audience. In explaining part of the need for the Bill, he stated that his department was still using an old piece of legislation dating back from Anguilla’s federal link with St.Kitts-Nevis which has since been changed in those islands.
Replying to other questions, Mr. Proctor said that in part the Bill provided for national development plans to be determined by the people of Anguilla and not for an individual alone to decide how the island should be developed. “It will actually make provision for public involvement …so it is a plan made by the people,” he explained.
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Honourable Albert Hughes (left) with members of the public
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He told the gathering that there was a draft national land use plan, but under the present legislation his department lacked the power to create national land use plans. “We want to be proactive and to have guidelines to actually direct the planning process so we have had a national land use plan to guide the way we apply our rules in regards to development on Anguilla,” Proctor stated. “A lot of the things we do under the present legislation we have no legal authority. This legislation will actually provide with that sort of strength to make it possible to enforce development plans in the future.”
Other town meetings to discuss the two Bills will be held as follows: September 15 at the Teachers’ Resource Centre; September 22 at the Road Primary School; and September at the Alwyn Allison Primary School at West End.