The photograph shown here is the restaurant area of the Cinnamon Reef Hotel at Little Harbour. It is part of the larger section of the property which the Anguilla Government is hoping to acquire as the permanent site for the Hospitality Training Institute of the Anguilla National Community College

The five-part Anguilla Community Bill 2009 was piloted through the Assembly by Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, on Tuesday, February 24. He said that the advancement of the island was not only from an economic standpoint, but from a social services perspective and was critical to the sustainable development of Anguilla.
He told the House that plans were underway for a feasibility study for the development of the Cinnamon Reef Hotel site for the Hospitality Training Institute of the National Community College. He explained that the college would comprise six divisions. These are a Division of Hospitality Studies; a Division of Technology; a Division of Natural Sciences; a Division of Humanities and Education; a Division of Community and Adult Education; and a Division of Social Sciences. He said the aim was to provide well-rounded opportunities in education for the people of Anguilla.
He reported that interest was very high in the Community College Development Unit which had been moved from its limited location in the Cannon Ball Building on the Airport Road to the more spacious Rogers’ Office Complex at George Hill. He said that in keeping with “the notion of reality-based training,” Government had established an area where a chef would engage students in a number of food preparations.

“This Bill, Mr. Speaker, is really the culmination of efforts by the Government of Anguilla and its commitment to tertiary education on the island,” Mr. Rogers went on. “The Anguilla National College will be a statutory body governed by a Board. There is a Shadow Board which has been working closely with the College Development Unit and the particular members are well established in the education system in Anguilla. They have expertise in education, management, curriculum development, finance, business management and industry.

Hon. McNeil Rogers

“Not only will the Cinnamon Reef facility be used as a training institution, but it will also be a tourism project as well. This is in the sense that it will be operational just like any other hotel on the island. The individuals who will perform the duties and the tasks at the Cinnamon Reef Hotel will all be students so there is a revenue component to it as well…” He stated that it should not be thought that the beach land area would be spoilt by having the Division of Hospitality of the Community College there as it would be utilised in the same manner in which any expatriate developer would use it.
He said that a number of persons on the island had contributed to the legislation and that there were a number of alliances with accredited institutions abroad in terms of awarding certificates, diplomas and eventually degrees.
Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, Minister of Finance, Victor Banks and Parliamentary Secretary, Albert Hughes, joined Mr. Rogers in speaking on the importance of the Bill. Mr. Fleming hoped that in time the Community College would become the University of Anguilla.

Opposition Members Edison Baird and Hubert Hughes supported the Bill but with some questions relating to the use of Cinnamon Reef Hotel, access and the creation of a statutory body to run the institution.

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