Anguilla has been privileged to be the venue for significant regional conferences recently. A couple weeks ago, a Caribbean Utilities Regulation conference was held at Cuisinart Resort & Spa, and Thursday, November 14th saw the opening ceremony for the 59th Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) conference — a coming together of regional meteorologists —hosted at Paradise Cove Resort.
The ceremony was moderated by the Government’s Chief Engineer, Mr. Bancroft Battick, who asked Pastor Jerome Harrigan to deliver the prayer of invocation. Brief remarks were then given by the Director of the Caribbean Meteorological Organization, Ms. Arlene Laing, followed by three musical pieces rendered by the Jazz Band of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School.
In her remarks, Ms. Laing mentioned how delighted she was to be in Anguilla: “We are extremely pleased to hold our 59 Caribbean Meteorological Council meeting in Anguilla. We do appreciate the team at the Anguilla Air and Sea Port Authority (AASPA) who has been working diligently to make this event happen. We thank the Chairman of AASPA, Mr. Marcel Fahie, and the CEO, Mr. Sherman Williams, for making it feasible for us to be here.
“We also thank the representative of the Government of Anguilla, the Honorable Mr. Curtis Richardson, for the part that he has played in hosting us. Thanks are also extended to air traffic control personnel, Ms. Roshima Roberts and Ms. Sheila Hodge, for preparing for this event.”
Ms. Laing commented that she would like everyone to be always aware that meteorology, having to do with the observance of weather, water and climate, has an impact on all of our lives. She said, “We need to be cognizant of weather conditions not only for disaster risk reduction and preparedness, but we know that meteorology plays a significant role in our economies as well.”
She went on: “We rely on weather reports and meteorological information because they provide critical infrastructure. The national met services are really critical as an underlying factor that determines the quality of the economies of our region. Weather, water and climate contribute to our agriculture, to tourism, to health, to the blue economy — which is the managing of our oceans — as well as to prospects for renewable energy. There are so many facets of life that depend upon meteorological information, and we need to appreciate the great role that the meteorologists of our region play.”
As a member of the meteorological Headquarters Unit in Trinidad, Ms. Laing stressed that the Unit was doing all it can to support the region’s meteorological services, and to make sure that the meteorological centres were operationally compliant with the international standards of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Speaking at the opening ceremony on behalf of the WMO was Dr. Rodney G. Martinez — and the Honorable Minister of the Environment, Mr. Curtis Richardson, spoke on behalf of Government.
The two-day meteorological conference began on Thursday, November 14th and ended on Saturday, November 16th.
Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
