Mr Haydn Hughes, Minister for Infrastructure and Tourism, took the opportunity of the Government’s town hall meeting to comment on a number of matters of interest and concern to the public.
“We came into office with a Covid crisis and a lot of the hotels and other hospitality products have closed down,” he observed. “Just today, [September 16], we learned about a number of persons who have lost their jobs at Belmond Cap Juluca. I want the general public in Anguilla to know that we, in the Government of Anguilla, were not provided with any list of names; and there is no requirement for any establishment to provide any list of names. But you can rest assured that in this administration we put Anguillians first. You will have a Government, once things normalise…you will come first. There will be no way that we, as an administration, will be putting anybody ahead of our people when we have suitably qualified persons for jobs.”
In addressing the Covid-19 situation, Mr. Hughes said: “It is how we can manage economic advancement while protecting the health and safety of the people of Anguilla. That entails certain protocols that are unprecedented. I believe what we are doing here in Anguilla, to protect our Covid-free environment, are protocols that have never been seen before. We believe that when we unveil these protocols, at the end of this week, persons will be booking to come to Anguilla because… once you are medically cleared you can walk around having no fear of being infected by the dreaded Covd-19 disease.”
The Minister of Tourism concluded: “We will unveil all that information because we have a goal of opening this country – and I say that with a caveat – on November 1st, 2020. For those hospitality workers, who have been asking questions, we will be doing everything we can to ensure that you get back to work and earn a meaningful living.”
