News

His Excellency the Governor, Alistair Harrison, announced in a press statement on Monday, April 11, that he had suspended the issuing of Visa Waivers in Anguilla. The statement reads as follows:

The much-publicised Anguilla Education Bill 2011 has again been through the rigors of another lively debate. It was a public consultation…for the third time and the venue was the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium on Tuesday, April 5. The longstanding draft Bill, fashioned from an OECS model, waspreviously taken before the House of Assembly last year, but was deferred pending further views from the public.

The American Eagle made its last flight to and from Anguilla on Monday this week, April 4, the previously announced date for the discontinuation of the flights to this island and other Caribbean destinations.

With the passage of the Stabilisation Levy in the Anguilla House of Assembly, the Comptroller of Inland Revenue, Gecheal Richardson, and her staff, are now taking on the task of explaining the system to various private sector representatives to ensure a smooth transition of the tax as possible. It is expected that a series of organised explanatory and working sessions will commence next week for all groups and representatives of employers as well as self-employed persons.

In a rare parliamentary case in Anguilla, an already passed Bill was returned by the Executive Council to the House of Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, this week,March 30, toundo or amend an amendment which, rather than improving the legislation, in fact stopped its effectiveness.

Kenswick Richardson, an Anguilla United Party (AUF) candidate in the February 2010 general election, has been freed of all thirteen charges relating to voter registration in the West End constituency.

The Opposition Anguilla United Party (AUF), which has two seats in the House of Assembly, where it did not support the Stabilisation Levy last week, has maintained its argument that it is an unnecessary burden to the people of the island and will have a destablising effect on the island. Another argument is that there is a need for more public consultation on the Bill as probably up to 90% of the people of Anguilla may not understand the levy.

A considerable amount of excitement was generated on Wednesday morning, March 23, when Anguilla joined in participating in an International Tsunami Exercise code-named Caribe Wave 11/Lantex.

The Interim Stabilisation Levy Bill, a first-time measure, requiring persons at all levels in the public and private sectors to pay what amounts to income tax, was schedule to pass in the Anguilla House of Assembly on Thursday, March 24.

Representatives of Starwood Capital together with Lawyer Keithley Lake, on Thursday March 17, held a press conference to give details of the file for bankruptcy and the present and future situation.

Officially, it is called an Interim Stabilisation Levy, perhaps eventually evolving into a medical insurance fund contribution. In actual fact, though unofficially called so, it is an income tax. It has been identified as a potential major revenue source in the three-year plan whereby the Government of Anguilla is scheduled to return to a balanced budget by 2013, according to Dr. Wycliffe Fahie.

What appeared to have been a bountiful harvest of agricultural crops was represented by heaps of produce all over the floor space of St. Mary’s Anglican Church on Harvest Sunday, March 6.

Under an arrangement with the Ministry and Department of Education, The Anguillian has begun publication of a weekly Literacy Page, in colour, as a public service to the children of the island.

If Anguilla had remained part of the Associated State of St.Kitts-Nevis, created in February 1967, it would have been celebrating that status this week. Instead, the people of the island came together on Wednesday, March 2, to celebrate, with a national holiday, the 85th birthday of Revolutionary Leader, James Ronald Webster.

The Anguilla Community College (ACC) and the University of Technology in Jamaica (UTECH) have discussed and entered into a mutually-beneficial partnership with each other. Representatives of both institutions met in Anguilla, last week, with the Minister of Education, the Hon. Edison Baird, in attendance.

All the Government-run schools in Anguilla came together on Tuesday evening for a grand concert in celebration of the 85th birthday of Revolutionary Leader, Ronald Webster.

The two independent financial experts, John Wiggins and Ved Gandhi, recruited by the British Government to review Anguilla’s 2011 budget with local technocrats, have completed their work on a positive note. They reported to the Government and people of the island at the Rodney McArthur Rey Auditorium on Monday evening, February 21.

Tourism officials in Anguilla have put high stakes on a possible big increase in visitor arrivals in the island following the release of the Bachelor Show in the United States by the ABC Television Network on Valentine night, Monday, February 14.

Millions of people had the opportunity to hear the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show live and direct from one of the luxury villas at Viceroy Hotel and Residences in Anguilla for three hours on February 12 via satellite.

The two independent experts recruited by the British Government on a Fiscal Review Mission to Anguilla, including a revision of the 2011 Budget, have begun their work on the island, following their arrival last week.