The Blowing Point Ferry Terminal, where hundreds of arriving and departing passengers traverse each day between Anguilla and St. Martin/St. Maarten, has taken on an eye-catching and pleasing appearance.
The new look is Digicel’s conspicuous mounting of a welcome billboard featuring life-size portraits of a number of Anguilla’s seasoned and upcoming entertainment artistes. The billboard, or poster, was launched on Wednesday, June 3, at the entrance to the port. It is a partnership between Digicel and the Anguilla Air and Sea Ports Authority (AASPA )aimed at enhancing the island’s ports – especially the Blowing Point Port, where the highest number of passenger arrivals and departures are recorded.
Chief Executive Officer of the AASPA, Mr. Vanroy Hodge, said in part: “The AASPA is grateful for the contributions of Digicel and is extremely happy to have partnered with Digicel for the enhancement initiative for the Blowing Point Port. It is the front door for Anguilla in that over 90% of visitor arrivals enter Anguilla through the Blowing Point Port.”
He went on: “As we know, Digicel has developed a sound reputation for its social responsibility, and it provides social good for various initiatives. The AASPA is looking forward to partnering with Digicel on various other initiatives and establishing a long-term and cordial relationship.”
Mr. Hodge observed that the billboard had given the port a better appearance than it had a year ago. He expressed appreciation and congratulations to all the key persons who made the initiative and presentation possible. He was also grateful to other entities which had contributed to port enhancement in the past.
Minister of Social Development, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, who at the time was Acting Chief Minister, thanked Digicel for not only being a corporate partner with the Anguilla Government, but also with the Port Authority. He said there were plans for the further development of the Blowing Point Port as an important gateway to Anguilla – and that the port was critical to the development of the tourism industry. He observed that there was also a need to improve the scenic beauty of the island as well as customer relations to attract repeat visitors to Anguilla.
“I pledge that the Government of Anguilla will work tirelessly with AASPA to develop this port facility so that it will not only be something we can be proud of, but will be able to satisfy the needs of our developing tourism sector,” he stated. “We thank Digicel for being the corporate sponsor for this beautiful display.” The Minister observed that there were a lot of other places in Anguilla to beautify and that there were more leading entertainers and other notable persons whose portraits could also be displayed there.
Port Manager, Mr. Joseph (Dale) Rogers, commented: “Blowing Point is one of Anguilla’s busiest ports with well over one 1,000 passengers passing through on an average daily, and on some days the figure can reach 3,000 especially with August coming up. We are very happy to partner with Digicel for such a lovely billboard and we hope this is the beginning of things to come. I would like to thank Digicel, our partner, and ASSPA, on behalf of the entire staff at the Blowing Point Port.”
Mr. Rochus Schreiber, CEO for Digicel Anguilla, was happy to participate in the unveiling of the beautiful poster, honouring the extraordinary contributions of the artistes not only to Anguilla and the rest of the Caribbean, but to world-wide as well.
“For an island with less than 15,000 people living here, the contribution is truly extraordinary,” Mr Schreiber continued. “Every single one of them on the billboard has done something amazing, has made Anguilla well known, and it is only fitting that they are displayed here at a place where tourists and visitors come and can recognise them for the truly fantastic contribution they have made.
“Digicel, as a corporate sponsor, has been contributing to the overall development of Anguilla, not only through the communication services that we provide, and the continued development of the most advanced network in the Caribbean, but also through corporate sponsorships and contributions to the various charities and initiatives that both the Government as well as private sector individuals have displayed. This is something that we are committed to continue doing. It is important that we, as a community, continue to support each other, continue to develop and continue to make Anguilla the best it can be. I would like to thank everybody for their support and pledge our continuing support to this cause.”
During the ceremony three Anguillians were awarded. They were Linden Richardson for his contribution to cricket in Anguilla and the Leeward Islands; Tyrone Brooks of Exodus HD – Anguilla’s Soca Band; and Natalie Richardson (Miss Tiny Tott). They were presented with samples of Anguilla rock.
The ceremony was chaired by Mr Colwayne Pickering, Digicel’s Information Communications Technology/Operations Manager, and the Vote of Thanks was delivered by Marketing Executive, Ms Roxanne Webster.
