A three-member French Parliamentary delegation from St Martin visited Anguilla on Wednesday, May 14, for discussions with the Executive Council including the Leader of the Opposition, Mr McNiel Rogers.
The delegation comprised Mr Jean-Jacques Urvoas, Chairman of the Commission of Laws and a Member of Parliament in France; Mr Rene Dosiere of the Parliamentary Mission on the status of St Martin and a Member of Parliament also in France; and Mr Daniel Gibbs, an Opposition Member in St Martin, looking into the status of the Collectivity of St Martin.
Mr Gibbs told reporters that the mission was seeking information about Anguilla’s involvement in the Overseas Countries and Territories grouping, the benefits to be derived therefrom, and how St Martin, created as “Collectivity” in 2007, might be able to deal with obstacles in the European system”.
“We want to see what the position is in St Martin today with respect to this region where there are OCT territories,” he said. “We are questioning whether we should stay in the European system, as we are today, or to become like you all in the OCT. It was interesting for us to pay a visit to the Anguilla Government and the Governor in order to get some information.”
Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, welcomed the delegation to Anguilla, saying that the two territories had long embarked on various matters of functional cooperation.
Following the meeting, the St Martin delegation toured a number of tourism projects in Anguilla including CuisinArt Golf Resort and Spa, Mallouhana-Auberge Resort (now being refurbished) and Viceroy Anguilla, where they had lunch.
