Local News

Mrs Rhona Richardson Roydon, Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Anguilla Community College (ACC), and Dr Bonnie Richardson-Lake, Chairperson of the Anguilla Community Foundation (ACF), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday 15th April, 2011 at the Board Room of the ACC.

Jerome Richardson, of South Valley, may be following the legacy of his father, Pastor Cecil Richardson, in being a noted farmer. But he has gone a step further in substantially expanding and taking over the lettuce cultivation his dad started on the Agricultural Department’s leased farmland in The Valley.

The second part of the Morlens School of Music Spring Recital took place on Sunday 10th April. In an effort not to be outdone by the smaller ones, these more seasoned musicians put on quite a show for the large and appreciative audience. Unlike the first recital, there was a variety of instruments, including saxophone, flute and the violin, on display. Several young pianists shone in repertoire ranging from sacred and classical to popular music. The adult students were also on show with sterling renditions on saxophone.

Some 130 delegates from various regional islands are in Anguilla attending the Annual Caribbean Prison Ministries Retreat in collaboration with the Community Services Department of the North Caribbean Conference Seventh-day Adventists.

The first Country Conference organised by the UWI Open Campus Anguilla will take place from Thursday April 28 to Friday April 29, 2011. The Training Room of the National Bank of Anguilla will be the venue for the two-day Conference which starts with an Opening Ceremony at 9 am on the Thursday.

The Anguilla United Front is continuing to make a strong case that the Interim Stabilisation Levy, recently passed by Government in the House of Assembly, is not in the best interest of the people of the island, in these difficult financial times, and should be repealed. That was the main subject of the party’s press conference held on Tuesday this week. It followed an earlier press release on the matter from the Leader of the Opposition, Evan Rogers, who has also a sent a motion to the Speaker of the House calling for the repeal of the Act.

As part of its initiatives to raise Anguilla’s profile as a destination for Canadian travelers, the Anguilla Tourist Board hosted a group of Canadian travel writers on island from April 14-17, 2011. The writers expressed their pleasure with Anguilla’s product - reactions included “Wow!” and “Wonderful!”

Local ham radio operators on Monday April 18 joined the rest of the world in observing World Amateur Radio Day. For the past 30 years the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), of which the Anguilla Amateur Radio Society is a member, has marked April 18, the anniversary of the IARU in 1925, as World Amateur Radio Day.

A week-long training workshop for Census Enumerators began on Monday this week at St. Gerard’s Conference Centre. This is in the run-up to the Anguilla Population & Housing Census set for May 11.

The Literacy Development Project, of the Ministry and Department of Education in Anguilla, one of the most fitting national initiatives requiring substantial funding, has been presented with a donation of EC$300,000 for the joint work. The contribution was the biggest slice of a quarter million dollars donated by the Social Security Board from its development fund to seven recipients on Tuesday this week. The cheque presentations were made by Deputy Chairman of the Board, Alkins Rogers.

The first carefully-selected students from forms two and three at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School have graduated as Nursing Cadets following six months of basic training.
Their graduation ceremony, on April 9, with all the pomp and splendour attached to it, was held Aleta Restaurant at Viceroy Hotel, where some training sessions in fine dining were undertaken at Coba Restaurant recently as part of the programme.

The western area of Anguilla, in the tourism belt, is the first section of the island to have a sub-station linked to the Electricity Company’s main power plant at Corito. It was officially opened on Tuesday this week some distance behind the branch offices of the Caribbean Commercial Band and the National Bank of Anguilla.

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:

There were no reports of burglaries in Anguilla during the period April 6-13. However, seven thefts were reported in Rey Hill, Stoney Ground, Island Harbour, Little Harbour, West End, The Valley and South Hill.

This year, Runway Anguilla, a “charity for community” grouping, held its third annual fashion show on Sunday, April 10, at Coba Restaurant, Viceroy, at which there was a large attendance.

The Anguilla Department of Disaster Management, on behalf of the National Disaster Management Committee, would like to thank Mr. Thomas Bryan (Tall Boy) for his generous donation of life vests to the national disaster programme.

A Seventh-day Adventist Church-associated group of young people, from various parts of St. Martin/St. Maarten, gave a concert performance in Anguilla over the weekend as part of their ministry.
Many of them are either students or former students of the Seventh-day Adventist School there.

Thanks to a grant from the Governor’s Office, as well as financial help from building owner Ms ‘Babs’ Carty, a brand new deck has been constructed around the Anguilla Sailing Association’s school in Sandy Ground, along with much needed roof repairs and painting. Fred Porter, chair of the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club’s committee, explained: ‘The deck is used as a classroom for teaching sailing theory to our students.

The 85th birthday on Tuesday, April 12, of Anguilla’s leading businessman and real estate developer, Albert A. R. Lake, OBE, was celebrated on Sunday, April 10, with aService of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Anglican Church.

With the increasing number of motor vehicles in Anguilla, a new auto business has opened in the Mega Depot Building, a sprawling rental and commercial complex, in The Farrington. The enterprise, Anguilla Auto Paints and Supplies Limited, had its grand opening on Friday April 8. It is a joint undertaken by Anguillian Melissa Bryan and Jonah Nelson, who is originally from St. Lucia.