News

Festival Del Mar, held at Island Harbour Bay on March 22 and 23, has been described as a success despite the odds which militated against it. One of the competing drawbacks, until he was rescued, was the disappearance at sea of village fisherman, Sam Webster, which had not only overshadowed the event, but threatened its cancellation.

Anguilla’s top Clergyman, the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks, celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of his Consecration and Ordination as the Bishop of the Diocese of the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba with a Special Service at St. Mary’s Anglican Church on Wednesday evening, March 26.

Forty-six-year-old Samuel (Sam) Webster, of Island Harbour, is alive today because of his faith in God, his will to survive and his ingenuity to protect himself in the merciless deep 35 miles east of Anguilla. He was thrown from his boat, Try Hard, when his hand mistakenly put the engines at full throttle on Friday afternoon, March 14.

The Anguilla Circuit of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court said farewell on Monday this week to Sir Brian Alleyne who has served for three years as Acting Chief Justice in the nine jurisdictions of the sub-region.

A campaign involving the Royal Anguilla Police Force, the Governor’s Office and Government Departments in the United Kingdom is now in place aimed at addressing the increasing problem of dangerous driving and the need to ensure safety on the island’s roads.

At a meeting between Ministers, public officers and ferry boat owners and operators on Thursday March 6th, the ferry boat operators have agreed to new fares for the service between Anguilla and French St. Martin. Effective Monday 17, 2008 fares are as follows:

Persons 6 years and over: US$15.00
Persons 2 to 5 years: US$10.00
Persons Under 2 years: free

Island Harbour Bay, now virtually quiet, except for the gentle waves caressing the many fishing boats at anchor and crashing against the shoreline, will buzz with activity on Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23. That is when Festival Del Mar (Festival of the Sea) will be held there attracting large crowds from across the island.

Police in Anguilla are looking for a missing motorist whose car was involved in a road accident on the Stoney Ground main road, in the early hours of February 23, which resulted in the death of village resident Nell Rogers.

The 3,700-odd shareholders of the National Bank of Anguilla Group of Companies will be delighted to hear that the Bank has now reached its first one billion dollars in assets. The announcement was made on Wednesday, February 27, by Chief Executive Officer, E. Valentine Banks at a press briefing called for that purpose.

Come Saturday, March 1, residents in Anguilla will begin paying five cents more for electricity in terms of fuel surcharge. ANGLEC’s General Manager, Neil McConnie, says the company was forced to increase the fuel surcharge from its present rate of 26 cents per unit to 31 cents. He nevertheless pointed out that the company will be absorbing 22 cents of the increased amount in order to reduce the burden on customers and emphasised the need for electricity consumption to save on bills.

In the continuing spate of serious and minor road accidents in Anguilla, Nell Rogers, 44, of Stoney Ground, died some hours, at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, after he was severely injured on Saturday, February 23.

Anguilla’s Revolutionary Leader, James Ronald Webster, has risen above the den of noise about an annual national holiday for his birthday simply to send a statesmanlike message to citizens urging them to continue to build and strengthen their homeland for another 40 years.

Glenn Smith carefully eased himself into a partial upright position to avoid pulling against his right leg affixed to his bed frame as he nursed a fractured hip at his Cauls Bottom residence and spoke about his plight.

The Health Authority of Anguilla and a team of professionals from Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, New York, are elated over a partnership in which medical and nursing personnel on the island have undergone an excellent period of training in Laparoscopic Surgery. Further, they are pleased that between Monday and Wednesday, March 3-5, seven operations were performed on patients who were able to leave the Princess Alexandra Hospital within a short time of the specialised procedures.

The Anguilla House of Assembly met on Tuesday, February 19, for one of its shortest and non-controversial meetings in recent times.

A consultative meeting was held at the Teachers’ Resource Centre on Tuesday, February 19, to discuss a Master Plan for a state-of-the-art Government Building to cutback on large sums of money over the years on the rented accommodation.

Friday this week sees the blessing and official opening of the new offices for the Community College Development Unit of the Ministry of Education, now located in Rogers’ Office Complex at George Hill, next to Cable TV.

There are a number of proud educators and graduate students in Anguilla following the recent CSEC and CAPE examination results.

The Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre, in association with the Ministry of Social Development and its Department of Youth and Culture, launched the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE) on Tuesday, January 22 at the Teacher’s Resource Centre Auditorium.

The Chairman Dr. Franklin Lloyd and the Directors of the Board of the Health Authority of Anguilla have appointed Darlene A. Baptiste (nee Carty), MA Ed., R.T.T., E.M.T. to serve as Chief Executive Officer of HAA effective 15 January 2008. Prior to accepting this position, she served as the Vice-President for Dynamic Management & Consultants, Inc.