Local News

His Excellency Governor Alistair Harrison concluded his familiarisation tour of District 3 (the Valley North Constituency) with a visit to the office of The Anguillian Newspaper on Friday, September 18. He was accompanied by the Elected Representative, the Hon. Evans McNiel Rogers, Minister of Social Development.

Anguillian and Indian Muslims held a big fete at their Mosque just off the Jeremiah Highway on Sunday, September 20, in celebration of the Festival of Breaking Fast or Eid ul-Fitr, following the end of Ramadan.

At the Alwyn Allison Primary School in West End on September 3rd, nearly 40 4th, 5th, and 6th graders learned about Anguilla’s shipwrecks and maritime heritage. As a marine archaeologist, I was invited to the school and share information about the latest shipwreck discoveries off Anguilla. It was a fantastic learning experience for everyone.

Senior Opposition Member in the Anguilla House of Assembly, the Hon. Hubert Hughes, spent most of the time of his press conference on Wednesday on the Cap Juluca MOA, a matter of continuing political debate on the island.

During the early rainy morning of Saturday 19 September, more than 30 members representing Anguilla’s Junior Optimist Octagon International (JOOI) Clubs and their advisors met at Road Salt Pond to participate in a pond restoration project co-organised by the Anguilla National Trust and the JOOI Club.

A draft Bill to create an Air and Sea Ports Authority in Anguilla was given its first reading in the island’s House of Assembly on Tuesday this week.

The St. Kitts-Nevis Association on Anguilla has collaborated with the Department of Social Development to make five food baskets available to needy persons here. The young organisation made the presentations to representatives of five persons (who were identified by the Department as deserving of the contribution) on Friday September 18.

Disaster Risk Reduction Consultant for the British Red Cross, Teresa Hanley, was in Anguilla as a guest of the Anguilla Red Cross. Her visit marks the first phase of a Risk Reduction initiative that is expected to contribute to a decrease in the vulnerability of persons in high-risk situations.

Students at the Island Harbour Primary School came away from a literacy class last Friday, September 18, fully conversant with what was taught to them by substitute teacher, Cherrydell Coombs, who is obviously endowed with some good teaching and classroom skills.

Like most countries in the world Anguilla’s most popular drug of choice is one that is legal and one which is generally considered to be ‘socially acceptable.’ This drug is of course Alcohol.

“PROJECT HAANDS,” a community group at Island Harbour, is making its presence felt in the district through its involvement in the primary school there and other initiatives in the district. The group is formally known as “Helping Anguillians Address Needs and Demands thru Services.”

Statistics can be a boring set of figures, but when properly analysed and applied to certain situations, the results can be both interesting and informative and of tremendous value to developing societies. That is part of the message of awareness which Member States of CARICOM and Associate Members are trying to get across to school children in particular by the observance of Statistics Day on October 15.

The Church, Judiciary, Bar, Police and Government came together in Anguilla yet again on Tuesday this week in observance of Law Year 2009/2010. It all started at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in The Valley where the dignitaries and other representatives gathered at a special service officiated by the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks and Rev. Menes Hodge.

Magistrate in Anguilla, Mrs. Birnie Stephenson Brooks, has been appointed a Judge in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court with effect from October 25, 2009 and has been assigned to Dominica.

A new Resident High Court Judge in the person of Madam Justice Louise E. Blenman, has been assigned to Anguilla. The Guyanese-born jurist was welcomed to Anguilla and to the Bench at an official ceremony at the Court on Tuesday, September 14, in observance of the commencement of Law Year 2009-2010. (See story elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.)

Reported Crime in Anguilla came down from 25 last week to 21 for the period September 9 to 16 with theft heading the list.

There were six cases of theft occurring at South Hill, West End, The Valley, Blowing Point and Corito. Items stolen ranged from a goat to a laptop and also included a cylinder of gas, four tires, four vehicle rims, two reels of number 4 copper wire and two truck batteries.

Chief Minister, the Hon. Osbourne Fleming, prefaced his weekly press conference on Wednesday, expressing thanks to the Government and people of Trinidad & Tobago for making available a fire truck to the island following the loss of the domestic fire-fighting vehicle. That vehicle was put out of commission when it overturned on the Little Dix road while travelling to the scene of an accident in the Shoal Bay area.

Anguilla’s British-appointed Governor, His Excellency Alistair Harrison, held his monthly press conference on Monday this week when he continued to brief reporters on matters related to his responsibilities on the island.

A Fire Truck, loaned to the Government of Anguilla by the Trinidad and Tobago Government, to service the needs of the Anguillian community, was handed over to the island’s Minister of Communications and Infrastructure, Kenneth Harrigan, on Monday this week.

Last week I offered my opinion on the importance of teaching students to read. I believe that reading is the single most important skill to teach in schools (not to say the writing and arithmetic should be ignored). Students who cannot read at grade level are highly at risk for school failure. Poor literacy skills increase the likelihood of negative behavior and/or dropping out of school.