Responding to complaints by Minister of Health and Social Development, Edison Baird, that the passage of the Education Bill was being deliberately blocked, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes said the Minister should take the lead towards holding another public consultation. After that, the Bill could be returned to the House of Assembly for debate and passage.
“As far as the Education Bill is concerned, that is the responsibility of the Minister of Education,” Mr. Hughes stated. “What is he bawling and bawling for? Tell him get on and do his work. He was supposed to have an exercise of getting the people [at the consultation]. People are making noise.The Bill went before the House and we asked for a postponement so that we can have another public exercise.
“I am not in education; it is not my portfolio. The Minister should get on and do his work…It is not a matter that it [the Bill] was passed in EXCO. It wasn’t even properly processed. But I pushed the Education Bill to go on the agenda [for the House of Assembly on October 31] to be debated nevertheless. But people are asking questions and I said ok, we will give them another two or three weeks. The Minister was now supposed to go and open the debate and let people give their opinion on it.
“Who is he blaming? He just wants to apportion blame.”
Mr. Hughes was at the time speaking in a Radio Anguilla interview with Information Officer, Felicia Hennis.
Mr. Baird took objection to the criticism. Among other matters, he suggested that the Chief Minister should call for a free vote among his Ministers to see who were against the passage of the Education Bill, and who really were interested in the educational development of Anguilla and its people.
He stressed that no other piece of legislation had been given so much wide dissemination and discussion in the history of Anguilla since the introduction of the ministerial system of Government. A point he particularly emphasised, was that his ministry had repeatedly requested persons having objections to the Bill to put such concerns in writing for an open and free discussion, but so far the persons making complaints had refused to do so.
Reportedly, the Government has until the end of the year to pass the Education Bill to benefit from substantial funding from the European Union for educational development.
