It was astonishing to read the letter in The Anguillian to the Chief Minister in which Mr. Kenn Banks, President of the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society stated that a woman in Vermont, USA, said that her boyfriend was given four medallions from the sunken El Buen Consejo Spanish ship in Anguillian waters, as payment for work done by a partner of the company licensed by Government to explore the wreck site.

I am appalled that some of the medallions were taken out of the island and that one of them was being sold on eBay although the person concerned is said to have been an innocent party who cooperatively gave it up to the FBI for return to Anguilla along with all the others illegally exported to the United States.

It is not now that visitors to the island have been illegally taking artifacts from Anguilla. To say the least, it is deplorable to hear that one of the partners in the company engaged by the Government could have been involved in paying some one with the very artifacts that were recovered. Man, it sickens me.

One confuses me is that there are a number of professional and other good divers in Anguilla like the person who first discovered the wreck and reportedly may have brought some of the medallions. I am not aware how difficult it is to reach the wreck, or what is its state, but I wonder whether many of the artifacts could not be locally retrieved and tuned over to the Government. Some times we need to try something for ourselves.

Inquirer

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