With Anguilla as a 5-star destination, Mr. Cardigan Connor, the Parliamentary Secretary who is spearheading the promotion of the island’s tourism industry, is appealing to all persons to embark on keeping Anguilla clean.
“I appeal to all to donate one hour once a month to clean the island of bottles, cans and water-collecting items,” he stated in a release on Wednesday. “You can choose an area in your surroundings, parks, beaches or anywhere throughout your districts. Further, please refrain from tossing bottles and cans and constantly littering our island home. Please use a tarpaulin as the law requires when transporting garbage to the Corito dumpsite; and do not rince out concrete residue on the roadside.”
Mr. Connor stressed that having a clean-up programme for Anguilla should not just be a focus on tourists, but on all of the inhabitants of the island who are affected 365 days of the year.
“It is a win-win programme where we can avoid the impacts of mosquito-borne diseases as well as proudly boast of having one of the cleanest islands in the Caribbean,” he stated. “It will definitely boost tourism arrivals in Anguilla.” He noted that there were constant radio announcements appealing to all persons to clean-up areas which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes and that everyone should take heed of this admonition.
Mr. Connor continued: “Over the years, many groups, organisations and individuals embarked on a clean-up campaign, most of which have been centred on the start of the tourist season. Anguilla, like most Caribbean islands, rely on tourism as their main industry. The past three years, the outbreak of Chikingunya and Zika has had a negative impact on tourism numbers. Here in Anguilla, there have been reported cases of Zika and that has resulted in a number of cancellations at all hotels and villas.”
The Parliamentary Secretary emphasised that if the people of Anguilla were to seriously commit themselves to keeping Anguilla clean, there would be a marked reduction of such diseases on the island. Mr. Connor, who has been seen personally engaged in cleaning his West End constituency by himself, or with others, is hoping that everybody across the island would join in clean-up campaigns at least on a monthly basis.
