Three consultants on good governance for environmental management and land use planning are in Anguilla, for the third time, conducting a series of workshops on land development and related matters.
They are Dr. Marilyn Morris, the Institutional Consultant; Ms. Christine Toppin-Allhar, the Legal Consultant; and Mrs. Barbara Jacobs-Small, the Public Awareness Consultant.
Dr. Morris told The Anguillian: “The Anguilla Government is concerned about making sure that there is proper land development and management for this island as it is very vulnerable and very fragile. This is therefore the time the Government needs to look carefully at how it plans and adapts for climate change and all the new phenomenon affecting the sustainability of the environment.”
She continued: “There are two existing draft laws that we are reviewing as well and the institutional framework for implementing those laws. One is the draft Physical Planning Bill of 2008 and the other is the draft Environmental Management Bill. We are reviewing the legislation in light of all the new happenings globally in terms of climate change; the need for coastal zone management; and the need for making sure that whatever we do in terms of land changes is within a sustainability framework.
“This is the third of three workshops that we have had. This one is actually looking at some of the reports we have produced already. It is a sort of a mid-term review of what we discovered, and what we proposed to make sure that there is a participatory decision process involved where we present [the draft], and where stakeholders have a chance to review and have the conversation necessary to come to final decisions.”
The workshop participants include members of the Steering Committee of the project; representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Departments of Environment and Physical Planning, the Attorney General Chambers, the Anguilla National Trust, the Archaeological and Historical Society, various Heads of Departments and Permanent Secretaries.
Ms. Aurjul Wilson, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, commented: “This workshop is in relation to the Physical Planning Act that has been languishing for quite a while. We in Anguilla recognise that there needs to be some land management or regulation of land and other related matters. If you remember correctly, years ago we started the Physical Planning Bill that met a lot of opposition from the community.
“In 2012 the Caribbean Development Bank had given a grant for us to develop a land development policy. With that policy, we revisited the draft Physical Planning Bill and some other issues. The consultants are meeting with stakeholders from various departments, as well as the community and non-governmental organisations, to see what we need to change and what we need to implement in order to get a successful draft which can actually wind itself into law.”
Ms. Wilson said the aim was also to make changes to certain definitions including changing what is called the Land Development Committee to a more sustainable Board.
She added: “We are also trying to streamline a lot of services and this is one. Hopefully there will be some public consultations once a draft has been developed, taken to the Anguilla Bar Association, and various policy-makers.”
