Anguilla’s Minister of Health and Social Development, Edison Baird, has released the text of letters, between his ministry and two persons – the Chaplin of the House of Assembly, Victor Brooks, and Colonel Harrigan, on the long-delayed Education Bill.
The first letter, addressed to Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, was written and signed by Colonel Harrigan and Victor Brooks. It was dated October 31, 2012, the same day the Bill went before the House of Assembly for its third readings and passage (facilitated by the postponement of the Rules of Procedure).
The letter to the Chief Minister read as follows:
Dear Sir:
We have briefly perused the Education Act, 2012 and have noticed that there are several sections of the Act that are not in the best interest of Anguilla. A few of these are sections 26, 68, 74 and 143. They are objectionable and should be revisited.
We do not have the confidence that the Bill has been ventilated sufficiently.
We are therefore asking you to establish a working group consisting of the Minister of Education, Ministers of Religion, the Bar Association and two or three members of Civil Society to consider certain aspects that are still included in this Bill.
Yours sincerely,
Colonel Harrigan Victor Brooks.
Mr. Baird, the Minister of Health and Social Development, replied as follows:
Dear Sirs:
I am in receipt of your letter of 31st October 2012 addressed to the Honourable Chief Minister in relation to the Education Bill 2012. In that letter you indicated that you have perused the Bill and you are of the view that sections 26, 68, 74 and 143 are not in the best interest of Anguilla and should be revisited.
Contrary to your view that the Education Bill has not been ventilated sufficiently, the Bill has been subject to more consultation than probably any other legislation brought to the House. Public consultations have been held in relation to the Bill on three occasions beginning in 2010 and for the past two years the public has been invited to write in to the Ministry any concerns they may have in relation to the Bill.
To canvas the informed views of the public, copies of the Bill were made available to the public, and special interest groups (including the Bar Association) were invited to attend consultations and/or submit comments to the Ministry and these concerns were discussed with them. The Bill has also been reviewed in Executive Council on numerous occasions and amendments made in accordance with directives from Council after considering the comments from the public.
In order to address your concerns, we ask that you detail them in writing to the Ministry whereupon we will convene a meeting with you at the earliest to discuss them. We trust that this meeting will provide an opportunity for your concerns to be ventilated and allayed.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Edison Baird.
On November 9, 2012, Mr. Harrigan and Pastor Brooks replied to the Minister as folllows:
Dear Mr. Baird
As you know, we expressed some concerns over the Education Bill and the fact that on such an extensive Bill we are still concerned that there are pending issues to be resolved.
We are in the process of seeking to have further consultation on the Bill and in that regard we would be grateful to receive a copy of the Bill with whatever amendments that were made to the original highlighted within the current document. As you know, the Bill contains over 200 plus sections and it is very unlikely for us to seek to compare the original and the subsequent draft containing the amendments when those amendments in the subsequent drafts have not been highlighted.
Grateful for an indication when we can collect the same from your office.
Yours sincerely,
Colonel Harrigan, Pastor Victor Brooks
