Officials and other persons in Anguilla welcomed a senior British official, on a familiarisation visit to the island this week, in the person of Ms Sarah Macintosh, CMG. She is the FCO’s Director General for Defence and International Security, and has recently been given responsibility for the Overseas Territories as well.
Ms Macintosh arrived in Anguilla on Sunday, July 27, for two days of talks and visits. Governor Christina Scott, speaking to The Anguillian about the UK official’s visit, said Anguilla was her visit to an Overseas Territory. “The visit is not simply for her to understand the specific issues in Anguilla,” Ms Scott explained. “It is also to give her a more general understanding about the UK’s relationship with the Overseas Territories, and some of the issues that come up, and to see the Governor and the Governor’s team in action, and to learn from that.”
Ms Macintosh began her visit at Heritage Collection Museum at East End. The Governor said the other visits were to the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School and the Clayton Lloyd International Airport to see the investment plans for the new Fire Station and the new Traffic Control Centre which will be funded from some of the money which the UK Government is providing this year.
The UK official’s visit also included a meeting with the Deputy Governor, Mr Stanley Reid, to discuss public service issues; a discussion with the Governor about the economy and some of the things that might be done to get the economy in Anguilla moving. She also visited the Community College and the St James Medical School to understand the importance of opportunities now available to young people on the island, the development of the Community College to that end, as well as to look at some of the very encouraging steps being taken otherwise by Anguilla to provide additional opportunities for young people.
Ms Macintosh, told The Anguillian: “I have been in this job [Director General of the Overseas Territories] for only two months and this is my first visit to an Overseas Territory in that capacity. The job is very exciting; and I am particularly excited about the Overseas Territories’ part of the job which is a tremendous privilege to be joining in the partnership that we have with all the territories, including Anguilla.”
She further explained that her substantive title of Director General, Defence and Intelligence (2011-2014) really hides a number of parts of the job which includes responsibility for the Overseas Territories as well as relations with the Americas and other regions. She was particularly pleased to have had the opportunity to visit Anguilla.
Interviewed by The Anguillian, the UK top official also took the opportunity to stress the importance of a free, impartial and courageous press to the checks and balances of society. “It is a critical part of a well-functioning society and is important to have,” she added.
Ms Macintosh, who will be visiting Bermuda later, was accompanied on her tour of Anguilla by Governor Scott; Mr Paul O’Connor, a member of the Overseas Territories team at the Foreign Office who, among other things, coordinates the Joint Ministerial Council which is held annually in December; Mr Andrew McCully, Director-General for School Infrastructure and Funding in the UK Department for Education; and Mr Steve McCready, Head of the Governor’s Office in Anguilla.
Ms Macintosh assumed her present appointment of Director General for Defence and International Security in 2011. Her previous appointments included Director for Strategic Finance (2009-2010); Her Majesty’s High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Liberia (2006-2008); and Strategy Coordinator for the UN Mission in Kosovo (2004-2005). She was also posted to the UK Mission for the United Nations in New York, the UK Mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Vienna; and the British Embassy in Madrid.
