Mr. José Vanterpool, the youngest member of the Anguilla House of Assembly, has taken on another important parliamentary role – that of a member of the Public Accounts Committee.
He accepted the appointment on Tuesday, December 10, when the House continued its meeting from the day before. Mr. Vanterpool already serves as Deputy Speaker and First Nominated Member of the House. He recently served as the Chairman for the Committee of the Whole House to lead the Constitutional and Elections Reform discussions.
The motion for his new appointment was read by Mrs. Evalie Bradley who holds membership of the Committee which is chaired by the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Palmavon Webster. The other member is the Second Nominated Member, Mr. Paul Harrigan.
The Speaker, Mr. Terry Harrigan, a former member of the Committee, congratulated Mr. Vanterpool on his appointment: “I just want to commend you for your excellent work as the chairperson for the Committee of the Whole House which dealt with the Constitutional and Electoral discussions that were held recently.”
Premier and Leader of Government Business, Mr. Victor Banks, commented: “We have called on him for so many things since he has been appointed in this Honourable House – and he has executed them well. I think it behooves us to give credit as you have, Mr. Speaker, to the service and capacity of members of this Honourable House to perform in their duties, and especially someone like the Honourable First Nominated Member, Mr. Jose Vanterpool. He has distinguished himself in terms of his presentation, and has gone a bit further to make sure that he has prepared himself for the service in this Honourable House.”
Mr. Banks continued: “Very often members are appointed to positions and that is the end of it – they don’t take the time to improve their skills so that they can make a better contribution. I want to associate myself with the fact that Mr. Jose Vanterpool came to this Honourable House as a youngster and has acquitted himself well. Not only that: he has made sure that he acquired the skills that are necessary to perform his function with distinction.”
The 24 year-old Island Scholar and Parliamentarian replied: “I would like to thank my fellow Honourable Members for once again having the faith in me to perform and execute another function. I am happy to serve this Honourable House in any way that I can. I look forward to serving in my best capacity – helping the Public Accounts Committee carry out their functions.”
Mr. Vanterpool went on: “Mr. Speaker, I also wanted in this personal statement to take the time to reassure the general public [in this regard]. It is public knowledge, at this point, that I have announced my candidacy for the 2020 general election as an island-wide candidate with the Anguilla United Front which currently forms the Government.
“In my capacity as Deputy Speaker, however, I want to reassure the listening public that I remain committed to standing impartial when I am in the Chair; and, to make it short, that I am guided accordingly by the Standing Orders to ensure that I maintain the integrity of the office as Speaker.”
