Local News

Children from across Anguilla enjoyed a weekend of fun at the Sandy Ground Ball Field on Saturday and Sunday August 18 and 19.

The fifth and six weeks of the Cable & Wireless Summer Festival Promotion saw Ms Shauna Richardson and Mr. Tony Sahai each winning a spin on the Cable & Wireless ‘Wheel of Fortune’ while Ms Sharnelle Hodge and Ms Marian Abbott each won a Sony Ericcson W810 walkman mobile phone valued at EC$1355.

For sure, Tomac Plaza Mall is becoming day after day, a place you cannot miss in Anguilla!

Superintendent of the Royal Anguilla Police Force reported that on Tuesday this week a post mortem was carried out on the body of Devon Ryan by visiting Pathologist Dr. Stephen King who arrived on the island from St. Lucia.

A study has been taking place during the past two months on the effect of coastal lighting on turtle nesting. Kimberley Lake, a graduate student from Duke University, has been conducting the study and giving suggestions to hotels and coastal residents as well as advice in regard to a policy for the Government.

When teachers and students return to the Road Primary School in Anguilla, in September, they will be pleasantly surprised and delighted by the beautifully repainted buildings and classrooms, tiled floors, ceiling fans, improved courtyard, extended grounds and playing area as well as other upgrading features they longed for.
All of this, and more, are coming to them as a result of an excellent partnership involving Flag Luxury Properties, Troon Golf, St. Regis and members of the Anguillian community.

Several hundred people, many with umbrellas, braved the scotching afternoon sun on Thursday, August 16, and marched to the beat of the Pathfinders’ Drum Band from the Caribbean Commercial Complex to the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre as they participated in a rally against crime and violence in Anguilla.

The Criminal Intelligence Unit of the Royal Anguilla Police Force is investigating two fresh shooting incidents as well as a robbery which have added to other similar crimes committed on the island recently.

A young man has been charged and appeared in the Magistrate’s Court for shooting and wounding Randy Audain in the South Hill area on Friday, August 10. The victim received initial treatment for a wound in his head and was later flown to Barbados for further treatment. He underwent surgery on Tuesday this week.

Anguilla’s Commissioner of Police, Keithly Benjamin, says the Summer Festival was “strictly culture and incident free” for the most part, but there were some blemishes which had left bitter and sad memories for certain persons.
He made the point in a radio broadcast that although the festival was relatively free of violence, the impact of the three shooting incidents at South Hill and Blowing Point by “insensitive, devious and cowardly persons had tarnished the festive season.”

The Royal Anguilla Police Force have issued a WANTED notice for a St. Kitts national they wish to question in connection with recent shooting incidents in Anguilla.

Some eighty young Methodists in Anguilla have been sharing in a Youth Summer Fest during this week under the theme: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Readers of this column will know that I unexpectedly passed my PADI Open Water Diver Certificate this year. Now I am hooked!

However, it was all very well going beneath the waves, swimming about and saying ‘ooh’ whenever I saw something that took my fancy. I hadn’t a clue what I was looking at and it bugged me. I would pop out of the water smiling radiantly, to bombard my long suffering dive master with eager questions as to what we had seen. The poor man must have dreaded my dives! I would pour over his battered copy of Reef Fish Identification by Paul Humann (published by New World Publications – a fantastically photographed and researched book), trying to name all I had seen.

Digicel is proud to partner with the Anguilla Scout Association to assist in the funding of seven scouts from Anguilla to the World Scout Jamboree in Essex, UK. The theme for the gathering is “One World, One Promise” and is expected to attract over 40,000 participants worldwide.

One man drowned and six others swam ashore to safety when a fishing boat, Lady Violet, capsized and sunk in the area of Benzies Bay just off North Hill Village on August Thursday.

The Presidency of the Anguilla Rotary Club was handed over from Calvert Carty to Seymour Hodge at a dinner held at Cedar Grove Restaurant on Saturday July 4. Assistant Governor for the Rotary District 70/20, Louis Weaver, put the chain of office on Seymour Hodge and pinned other members of the new board.

The newly paved 1.4 km road from North Hill to Sachasses has been named the Rev C Leonard Carty Road. At a ceremony on Friday July 27 the ribbon was cut and the name unveiled by Mrs Rowena Carty, widow of Rev Carty. The event was chaired by Chief Engineer Bancroft Battick who said that the road will provide an alternative route to The Valley and other benefits. He noted that the Ministry of Infrastructure is upgrading and diversifying the roads to provide for the increasing amount of traffic. The road was constructed by Webster Management, under Cuthwin Webster with project manager, Maurice Charles.

Four charities in Anguilla have benefited from the proceeds of the Jimmy Buffet concert that was held in March at the Dune Preserve. The cheques totaling US$75,000.00 were handed over on Wednesday August 8 to the Stingray Music Programme, the Anguilla Tennis Academy (ATA), the Anguilla Community Foundation (ACF) and the Bob and Melinda Blanchard charity.

In an indirect contrast to their recent demonstrations and demands for higher wages from Carillion Construction at the Viceroy Project, some 500 Indian workers crowded the Western Union Office at Lake’s World Supermarket on Wednesday, sending money to their relatives at home.

The ports of entry are buzzing with activity as returning Anguillians and visitors are arriving on the island from various parts of the world for the Summer Festivities, family reunions and the renewal of acquaintances.