Local News

On Friday, June 13 at the National Bank of Anguilla, persons in the financial services sector underwent training to prepare for up and coming international evaluations. Calvin Wilson, Executive Director of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, was on hand to explain what is required of Anguilla to pass the evaluation.

Captain Duncan L Lamb, Commanding Officer of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Ruler was gracious enough to sit with the press at the RAPF police headquarters on Tuesday, June 17 at 10:30am.

Mrs Ursil Webster Brooks was employed with the Government of Anguilla for the past thirty-six (36) years. Mrs Webster Brooks served in various clerical positions and senior positions which included Liaison Officer at the First Interpol Conference in Anguilla in the 1980’s, Finance Officer, Acting Development Officer and Secretary to the Tenders’ Board in the Ministry of Finance between 1987 and 1991, Acting Deputy Director Community Development and Welfare in 1994, and Acting Labour Commissioner (1996-1999).

By JESSE YEATMAN
(Staff writer for Maryland Online News)

Ferneldra Carty, a senior at Leonardtown High School and a native of the small Caribbean Island of Anguilla, grinds kernels of corn to show students Ryan Thomas, center, and Ryan Lack the process of how her grandfather and others from her country would make corn meal.

After having an island-wide system of desalinated water from the sea at Crocus Bay for a number of years, Anguilla is to commission a series of boreholes in the well field in the Valley Bottom area where the streams are plentiful and have virtually being going to waste.

The building constructed in 1953 to serve as the Official Residence of the Principal of the then Valley Secondary School, later as the Department of Lands and Surveys and eventually as the Education Department until recently, is being dismantled.

The Governor’s Office is pleased to announce that the Royal Navy support ship RFA Wave Ruler, one of two Wave class fleet tankers operating in support of the Royal Navy, will anchor off Road Bay early on Sunday 15 June.

At the weekly police briefing held at the Royal Anguilla Police Force Headquarters, Detective Sinclair and Superintendent Proctor appealed to the public to help in capturing two very dangerous violent robbers that are still at large. Mr. Proctor said, “We are concerned about firearms, and we want the people to be on alert about two people who are running around Anguilla with firearms with the intent to rob and they are not afraid to use deadly force. We want people to be vigilant.”

The Optimist Club of Anguilla celebrated its annual Respect for Law Week from 26th to 30th May 2008. The focus of this year’s activities was the recognition of persons working in law enforcement as well as those concerned in the administration of justice.

Mr. Alkins Rogers, Director of Sports, chaired an opening ceremony on Wednesday, June 11 at the James Ronald Webster Park to initiate a three-day workshop dedicated to sports educators in the public schools. The professional development opportunity is being done through the collaborative efforts of the Sports Directorate, the Education Department and the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance for Sport and Physical Education (TTASPE).

Reading recovery is an early intervention programme, designed for children who are having difficulty reading and writing after one year of school. It has been existent in the primary schools since 1998 and to date 364 children have been given a second opportunity to succeed.

For the second year in a row, Digicel has stepped up to become one of the headlining sponsors of the Anguilla Summer Festival alongside with the Government of Anguilla. The “Culture Pure and Straight” festival is looking to be even better this year with a major commitment from government to the tune of EC $1,000,000 and the marketing and organizational expertise of one of the regions biggest telecommunications companies.

The Department of Probation has joined the Johnno’s Cleanup Campaign in an effort to bring further awareness of the Department’s Community Service Programme. On Saturday May 31st and again on June 7th the Staff of the Department of Probation, along with Probationers, undertook the cleaning of Sile Bay which is located towards the eastern end of the island.

On Friday, 23 May 2008, Cap Juluca Hotel donated a considerable sum of US$86,000 to the Health Authority of Anguilla towards purchase of a second new ambulance for the Emergency Medical Services Department at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. This donation was made at the HAA Corporate Office in the afternoon subsequent to the commissioning ceremony for the new Medtec Type III ambulance held that morning.

On Tuesday, June 3 at 3:30 pm, 11 chefs gathered at Cuisinart Resort and Spa to compete. On the line were spots to compete at the next Taste of the Caribbean Culinary Competition. Trudy Nixon, Executive Director of the AHTA, was on hand organizing and directing the event with the help of three exemplary judges.

The imposing Edison L. Hughes Complex in The Valley is an eyesore in the heart of the Valley Town Centre but thankfully something is being done about it in terms of restoration.

Anguillians turned out in large numbers on Friday, Anguilla Day, May 30, at the Ronald Webster for an Official Parade to celebrate the 41st Anniversary of their 1967 Revolution which eventually led to the formal separation of the island from St. Kitts-Nevis.

There is now an official portrait of Anguilla’s Revolutionary Leader, James Ronald Webster, in the island’s schools and the Public Library to ensure that all students can know him.

A spate of burglaries within the past several days has landed two persons in prison. In some cases one of them reportedly used a hammer to smash glass doors and windows thus allowing the other accomplice to enter the buildings to carry out the robberies.

Top persons in the public sector and members of the Poverty Assessment Team in Anguilla began attending a workshop, on Monday, organised by the Statistical Department at the Community College Development Unit.