Pam Webster, one of Anguilla’s astute and frontline professional young women, has announced that she will stand in the next General Election as a candidate for the Anguilla Progressive Party in District I, Island Harbour, where she was born and resides with her husband and four-year old son.

Barrister-at-Law, Pam Webster

She made the announcement on Tuesday this week at her Chambers where she is Managing Partner of Webster Dyrud Mitchell, a busy and leading law firm, on the Airport Road in Anguilla. She is also a founding member and shareholder of First Anguilla Trust Company Limited.
Attorney Webster issued a written statement in which she gave various reasons for contesting the election. Her statement is as follows:

“Reasons

Bad Economic
Planning

The United Front Government (UFG) has mismanaged the Anguillian economy by expanding it beyond its capacity, making it more vulnerable to the global downturn and exposing Anguillians to unnecessary hardship.

Bad Physical
Planning

The UFG has demonstrated that although it was paying lip service to our history and heritage, it failed to respect proper planning procedures and the rule of law; and in doing so has failed to protect the rights of Anguillians and our children’s future.

Education

The UFG has failed to educate and motivate our young people adequately, resulting in unprecedented growth of criminal activity amongst youth, and juvenile delinquency.

Transparency and
Accountability

The UFG lacks transparency and accountability. Much of its decision-making was being conducted behind closed doors and without proper consultation. Even a new Anguilla constitution – a matter of the most fundamental importance to Anguillians – was about to be discussed with the British Government without local public consultation and, it was believed, without regard to the findings of the 2006 report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission.

Beliefs

Economic Management

Positive change is needed to achieve economic revitalisation through responsible financial management, putting Anguillian interests before those of foreign investors and other vested interests.

Leadership

Strong and coherent leadership was needed, by capable and experienced people; and that the Anguilla Progressive Party offered the people of Anguilla a new chance to elect a government dedicated to transparency, accountability and open public consultation.

Anguilla Progressive Party

The Anguilla Progressive Party offers the people of Anguilla a new chance to elect a government dedicated to transparency, accountability and open public consultation.”

The foremost lawyer, who is a strong believer in education, awards two scholarships to students each year, one from Webster Dyrud Mitchell and the other from First Anguilla Trust Company; and sponsors spelling B and other competitions offering Anguillian students an opportunity to compete and excel at any level and in any context, and also supports education in foreign languages. She also spoke about the need to introduce into the schools programmes allowing for mentoring and role-modelling and other innovative ideas which can enhance the education process.

Pam, as Ms Webster likes to be called, attended the East End and Island Harbour Primary Schools and later the Valley Secondary School where she excelled and was the recipient of the Teacher Wenham Memorial Scholarship. She was awarded an Anguilla Government Scholarship for Legal Studies and entered the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies in 1981. She graduated in 1984 with an LLB degree with honours, having made the Dean’s List in her first year; and from the Norman Manley Law School where she received her Legal Education Certificate in 1986. That year she was admitted to the Anguilla Bar and is a member of several of the Bars in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. She completed post-graduate studies at the International Development Law Institute in Rome, Italy, in 1989 and the International Tax Academy in Holland in 1990.

The Anguillian Barrister began her legal practice in Anguilla in 1986, as Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers following which she established her law firm, now Webster Dyrud Mitchell. Her areas of expertise include Bankruptcy, Company Law, Construction Law, Government Relations, Real Estate and Property Insurance. She is also a Notary Public and a Commissioner for Oaths.

Pam has been the longest serving President of the Anguilla Financial Services Association (AFSA). It is a private sector body and quasi-governmental agency responsible for shaping the jurisdiction’s financial services industry. In addition, she is the current Chairperson of Anguilla Finance, the promotions and marketing agency for the island’s offshore initiatives. Pam is an active member of the Anguilla Bar Association and a member of the Bar Council responsible for ethics and professional standards at the OECS Bars. She is also a member of the International Tax Planning Association, the International Fiscal Association, the International Bar Association and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

The multi-talented Anguillian Lawyer said that her interests in Government would include responsibility for such subject areas as Finance, Tourism and Education.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News