On Sunday 1st March 2015, Anguilla was crowned champion of the 43rd Leeward Islands Debating Competition. The competition was held from Thursday 26th February to Monday 2nd March 2015 at the Marriott Hotel, St. Kitts. The participating islands of the 2015 competition were Anguilla, Antigua, BVI, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. The topics debated and the winners were as follows:
• Thursday 26th February – BVI vs St. Maarten – Winner: St. Maarten
Moot: The CARICOM region’s failure to legalise marijuana is a colossal mistake.
• Friday 27th February –
o Debate 1 – Anguilla vs Antigua – Winner: Anguilla
Moot: There should be stricter media censorship in Caribbean societies.
o Debate 2 – St. Kitts vs Nevis – Winner: St. Kitts
Moot: The adverse effects of citizenship by investment programs outweigh the economic advantages.
• Saturday 28th February –
o Debate 1 – St. Maarten vs Montserrat – Winner: Montserrat
Moot: Discriminatory screening practices are necessary to reduce the spread of viruses new to the Caribbean region.
o Debate 2 – Anguilla vs St. Kitts – Winner: Anguilla
Moot: For fear of the church, Caribbean governments fail to address gay rights.
• Sunday 1st March – Montserrat vs Anguilla – Winner: Anguilla
Moot: When public funds are mismanaged, government leaders should face criminal prosecution.
The six students representing Anguilla were Zipporah Bannister, T’arah Niles, Kasem Thompson, Arielle Gaskin, Arianna Woodley and Sabrina Connor. The students performed exceptionally and, as such, a student from Anguilla emerged best speaker each night that Anguilla debated. Our teams were as follows:
Team 1 – Zipporah Bannister and T’arah Niles (Best Speaker)
Team 2 – Kasem Thompson (Best Speaker) and Arielle Gaskin
Team 3 – Arianna Woodley and Sabrina Connor (Best Speaker)
The race for overall best speaker was a tough one as the top three speakers of the debate competition were those from Anguilla all scoring 177 points out of a total of 200. Of the three students, Kasem Thompson was awarded overall best speaker for the competition. We extend hearty CONGRATULATIONS to our debaters as well as the teachers and students of the Anguilla Literary and Debating Society for a JOB WELL DONE!
– Contributed
