With four years already gone, and one more to go, before the general election in 2020, Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, told the public why he thought he and his colleagues should be re-elected.
Appearing at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre, in his Valley South constituency, he and the Minister of Health and Social Development, Mr. Evans Rogers, the Elected Representative for Valley North, were the main speakers on Saturday night, March 30. Another speaker was Mr. Curtis Richardson, Minister of Infrastructure.
Noting that his Government was in office for the past four years, Mr. Banks said he was proud that the team of the Anguilla United Front (AUF) had represented itself well over that period. “I am grateful for the support that they have given me, and the confidence they have reposed in me as the leader of the party,” he said in part.
He stated that despite criticisms by certain persons that the Government had not done anything over the past four years it was amazing what, in fact, the Government had achieved “without the kind of noise and boastfulness that should come from a Government that has had this level of achievements.”
The Chief Minister continued: “I want to suggest, based on the presentation made by the Honourable Elected Member for Valley North, the Minister of Health, that if you were to visit the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the improvements made before and after Hurricane Irma, both in terms of the facilities and the equipment, you will have no choice but to recommend him for a further term.
“I am sure that, based on the work that the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Curtis Richardson, has been doing over the past four years, as a young Minister – the fact that he has delivered on a number of his promises – that you would also want to recommend him for the Minister for Infrastructure and the Elected Representative for Road South in the next election.
“He is a man of great passion, a hard worker. He is a guy who doesn’t take no for an answer and he has the support of his Government. So don’t let them tell you that Curtis knocked down a building down here, he building up this and he is acquiring land here. He could not do that without the support of his colleagues. I am proud to have on board Ministers of the calibre of Mr. Curtis Richardson and Mr. Niel Rogers.
“You hear all kinds of criticisms of the Honourable Member for District 2, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge. [But] she has brought to Government the skill and expertise as the Elected Member for Sandy Hill; and a level of expertise in legal matters and constitutional affairs which has enabled her to carry through critical, controversial legislation. She has led teams on the constitution and the labour laws – and through her leadership in education, after Hurricane Irma, she got children back to school within three or four weeks.
“With her record of achievements having done what successive Governments have been unable to do – the implementation of the Labour Relatio
ns Act and a pathway to the implementation of other aspects of the Code – you have no choice but to recommend her to become the Elected Representative for District 2; and indeed the Minister of Home Affairs and Education in the next Government.
“I also appointed a young man by the name of Cardigan Connor, as Parliamentary Secretary, and de facto Minister of Tourism and Sports. Mr. Connor has dug in with both feet and hands in this job – with the support of the Anguilla Tourist Board and the great leadership that exists there, in the person of Mrs. Donna Banks…Together they have been able to deliver on their responsibilities to taking the tourism sector forward.
“Mr. Connor believes so passionately in the quality of our destination, cleanliness of the environment and so forth, that he, himself, is willing to get on his hands and knees and collect garbage and clean the area in which he lives. He speaks passionately about bringing legislation in place to make things happen, and has worked with a number of investors and officials from Government in ensuring that the tourism sector continues to move forward – and that the infrastructure is in place to ensure that people coming from overseas are able to transit into Anguilla in a smooth way. There are a number of initiatives that he is taking, along with investors and stakeholders in the sector, to make a difference.
“Based on the work that he has done in tourism, not to mention his continued effort in sports, you would have no choice but to once again recommend him as the Elected Member for District 7; and, with the change of the constitution, the Minister of Tourism and Sports.
“We also have Mrs. Evalie Bradley in District 5 who has worked as a Ministerial Assistant with Mrs. Cora Richardson Hodge especially because of her expertise in Labour and Home Affairs generally. At one time, she was the Principal Assistant Secretary in that Ministry as well. I consider her the soul of the Anguilla United Front Government because of the level of mentoring and spiritual support, and the guidance that she gives to us an organization.
“If you believe that in every organization it must have, at the heart of it, somebody who is a spiritual leader, I would say that it is important that you once again elect Mrs. Evalie Bradley as the Elected Member for Road North and an essential and critical part of the Government of Anguilla.”
Chief Minister Banks further stated: “We have other assistants, first Mr. Othlyn Vanterpool. We have Mr. Mark Romney and other persons who are very, very close to the Government organization – all persons who are part of Cabinet and people who have assisted us in making it possible.
“One of the things that I am confident that we are envied about – as a party over these last years – is the fact that whatever they say, whatever rumours they spread, they can’t break up the Anguilla United Front.”
Earlier, Mr. Banks congratulated the new and considerably young Chairman of the AUF, Mr. Lockart Hughes, whom he said would continue to groom young people to take leadership roles in the community; and Mr. Jose Vanterpool, the youngest member of the Anguilla House of Assembly since its inception under the Westminster parliamentary system in 1976. Mr. Vanterpool is the First Nominated Member in the House of Assembly.
