ANGUILLA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

Our Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your goodness, thank you for your grace towards us. Lord, as we start this House of Assembly meeting, I pray that you will have your way. Lord, bless the Members of this House. Thank you for the business, give them clarity. Let this House be a success in your name, Jesus, Amen.

Thank you. Miss Proctor, you may be seated.

Confirmation of minutes.

Members, you have before you the minutes of the 12th meeting of the first session dated 25th November 2025. Are there any amendments?

Hearing no amendments, may I have a mover and a seconder to confirm the minutes?

Madam Speaker, I rise to move that the minutes be accepted as circulated.

Madam Speaker, I rise to second.

Those in favor say aye. Those opposed say no. The minutes are confirmed.

Oath of allegiance to new Members.

The Honourable Deputy Governor acting.

I call upon the Member to be sworn.

His Majesty, King Charles the Third, His Heirs and successors according to the law, so help me God.

I take this opportunity to welcome our acting Deputy Governor to the House. May we proceed.

Announcements by the direction of the speaker.

By way of announcements, I wish to take this opportunity to welcome back Mr. Richardson, Honourable Member for Road North and Honourable Single Island Wide Electoral District Member Brian, who had a very interactive and engaging exchange in Trinidad. I'm not sure if they would wish to say a few words about that exchange at this point or if they would wish to reserve it for any other orders of the day, but I'm happy to allow you to address or to inform the public of your experience.

opportunities you shared and exchanged in Trinidad. No, OK. I recognize the Honorable Single Island Wide Member, Member Brian.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and Good Morning to the Honourable Members of this House. Of course, the House team and the general public that's connected and listening. First, I would like to put on record my gratitude and appreciation to the Members of the House of Assembly and especially the Administrative Committee for giving me the opportunity to travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the training of advanced parliamentary residents, parliamentary training, for me, it was more than a fantastic journey, it was a transformative experience for me as a new parliamentarian coming to this House and obviously going through challenges of trying to understand procedures.

This training obviously gave me the uplift for me to deliver on a higher level in this House and obviously to represent the people of Anguilla, the people that actually elected me to be here, serving and being their voice. From day one that we got into Trinidad, well from day one of the training when we started the registry, I already started to see that the training was going to be very insightful for everyone because of the way each Member conducted themselves and the high interest that every Member had and expectations of the training from the moment we began. It actually spoke for itself. During that training, we went through various areas of development, especially for me, that I've been during the surveys that we've had I've always mentioned that one of the key areas I would love to be developed on was legislature processes.

It was one of the topics touched and helped me to understand procedures much better. Another one, and I laughed the moment it was touched, I don't know if the Member for Road North laughed as well, it was when they spoke about timing. Every Member in that training spoke to having a specific timing set in the House of Assembly, not going to three AM, two AM, and twelve debating different topics. I know we encountered here in this House recently for the budget debate that Members wanted no time limits to deliver their presentations.

When we went to Trinidad, most Members wanted to see across the region time limits set. I thought in my mind how innovative our Madam Speaker is, because she's already a step ahead of what these Members are requesting. I commend you, Madam Speaker, and your team for the innovative steps you have taken in this House.

I was blessed, but honestly, I was a bit scared because one of the CPA members came to me and said, Jason, you know, we have the mock debate in a while. I said, don't tell me you want me to be leader of opposition, leader of government business. She said yes, that's what we want from you. I took on the challenge and was amazed at the way I delivered and the way the team supported, not only the team selected to represent government business but also the opposition Members.

They told me, fantastic job, you are the leader of government business. Mr. Richardson agreed as well; he commented that I was better in Trinidad than in Anguilla and asked one of the Trinidad members for tips to deal with me now that I'm here. As a Member of opposition and government, people might expect us to be enemies, but we shared the spaces in a manner that people wouldn't believe we were on opposite sides. We just represented Anguilla as a whole.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to have attended training with the Member for Rd. North, Mr. Richardson. It was a fantastic experience. We also had an opportunity to explore the culture of Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Singh. We visited the restaurant of one of the most famous cricketers in the region, Brian Lara's newly opened restaurant 277, and I had a conversation with him. We're grateful for the opportunity the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago gave us. That was most of our experience. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for sharing that, Member Brian. I'm especially interested in what Member Richardson is going to say about the time limits. Before I call on Mr. Richardson, I did have spies in Trinidad. I was paying close attention even though you didn't know. I got very good feedback from the President of the Senate in Antigua. She said you both did a splendid job in your mock debates. Your MPs are standing tall. Thank you to both of you for representing Anguilla in the way you described.

I call upon the Honourable Member for Rd. North.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good morning to our listeners and to all the Members in the House. Pleasant good morning. Me and the single island-wide member, Madam Speaker, signed an agreement that what happened in Trinidad stayed in Trinidad, and immediately he violated it. But I did look out for him, Madam Speaker, because he played football against my oldest son, and after my son trashed him, he said please don't beat up on him anymore.

So I took good care of him in Trinidad. But seriously, the Member represented Anguilla well while we were in Trinidad. I always speak about my joy of being a parliamentarian and here we represented as parliamentarians for the Honourable House of Anguilla. The Member did well. Trinidad was intense.

I mentioned it to the facilitators; they tried to pack two weeks of work into four working days. The sessions were all intense. I would say to all Members of the House, if ever given the opportunity to attend any of these sessions, please take advantage, because anyone can learn from these sessions. I have had the honour and privilege of serving on every standing and select committee in this House since 2020.

In the committee stage between the training and liaison with other members from different parliaments, there were many tips and things I learned in those committee hearings. Anyone can learn, no matter how long you've been in this Honourable House. Like I said, it was very intense. We had a mock debate.

After the mock debate, we visited a rehabilitation center in Trinidad, the only publicly funded one. Everything tied in with our training. We debated about this rehabilitation center, the Rebord House, because it's in Trinidad legislation, with funding and everything else done through the government of Anguilla. We debated the legislation, then visited the House itself to see how it operated daily.

Then we had committee stage, where we had actual persons from the Rebord House, other community members, and government agencies come in. In our committee hearings, we could sit down and get good feedback from those guiding us. All in all, like the single island-wide Member said, it was a great time, intense. On our Monday program, the ministry member told me I came back and I wasn't sick, but I came back Saturday evening and didn't leave my bed till Sunday evening because it was intense.

I must thank the Parliament and Government of Anguilla, the CPA, and you, Madam Speaker, who have been pushing for our training and development. Other than being intense, if you look at me you can see my jacket is a little tighter because the people of Trinidad say better to fill your belly than to leave good food go to waste. I intended not to leave the people's good food go to waste. I think I might have eaten a bit too much. The hospitality was amazing, the facilitators were amazing, and we did some amazing networking.

Other than being intense, if you look across at me you can see my jacket is a little tighter because the people of Trinidad say better to fool your belly than to leave good food go to waste. I intended not to leave the people's good food go to waste, so I think I might have eaten a bit too much.

The hospitality was amazing, the facilitators were amazing. We did some amazing networking. In opening, I encourage everyone who's a Member of Parliament, once given the opportunity, to take advantage of it because we can always learn, we can always grow. We heard earlier at the launch that a simple conversation from a young member at the time to the CPA kicked off our benchmarks and here we are today launching our website.

So again, Madam Speaker, thanks to everyone and thanks to the Member for being a good son.

Yes, and thank you for taking care of him. I just want to say to both of you publicly, I am very proud of both of you and I'm hopeful that you will now use the tools that you have obtained to also create the avenue for our next Member that's going to attend training. I can announce now that the 74th Westminster Seminar in 2026 will be held in the United Kingdom and the Member for Valley South has been successful in his nomination, so we now look forward to seeing Mr. Cordell Richardson attend that training next year.

I know Member Rogers-Webster and Member Vanterpool have had many good stories to tell about how intense and effective it was. I'm counting on both of you, on both sides that have had that experience, to encourage him and to help him prepare for that conference next year and any other opportunities that arise. As you correctly indicated, Honourable Member Richardson, I always support Members spotting opportunities for training and would wish to be funded. We can try to find ways to make it happen.

I am happy about your acknowledgment of the growth and your excitement about the program. As far as it relates to other announcements, I do have apologies for the absences of the Honourable Leader of the Opposition. He sends his good wishes for a successful launch and apologized for being off island. I also have apologies for Member Vanterpool and Member Connor, who are both on government official business and will be returning tomorrow.

Are there any other announcements that I might have overlooked? If not, we can proceed with the order paper. Thank You.

Questions, none.

Government Statements on Recent Developments, none.

Papers, none.

Reports from Committees, none.

Petitions, none.

Government Notices, none.

Private members bills, none.

Private Members, none.

Motions, none.

Personal Explanations, none.

Other business. Government business. A bill for Port Nimara Marina Anguilla Berth Slips Act 2025, first reading.

I recognize the Honourable Single Island Wide Electoral District Member Hodge.

Good morning to the House. Good morning, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I beg to move that the bill shortly entitled a bill for Port Nimara Marina, Anguilla Berth Slips Act 2025 be read a first time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to second.

It has been moved and seconded that the bill be read a first time. Those in favor? Those opposed? The ayes have it.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a legislative framework to provide for the registration of berth slips in Port Nimara Marina and to provide for related matters.

Private Member's bills, none. Private Bills, none. Other orders of the day. Members, Christmas greetings.

Before I call on the members for their Christmas greetings, I have forgotten in my announcements to recognize the attendance of our young aspiring parliamentarian. She hasn't told me so, but Miss Lexi Simpson is keenly interested in the work of the Parliament. She sent emails, sent messages trying to be connected with the Youth Parliament. So we want to welcome her.

I did invite her specially and told her that I would want her to sit through the entire sitting today. So welcome her on our way out as well. And of course, it would be remiss if I didn't recognize Ms. Eusvon Brooks as always, who is family to the House. Thank you for joining us today. Are there any Christmas greetings? Orders of the day? I'll just preface it by saying lunch is brewing somewhere. But I'll recognize who's first, the Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, Good morning to the Members of this Honourable House and to the listening and viewing public. Madam Speaker, I first would like to congratulate the Honourable Member for Road North and the Single Island Wide Member, Honourable Jeison Bryan, for their report, for their attendance and it sounds as if they were well behaved while they represented Anguilla overseas.

As chair of the Public Accounts Committee, I've had the opportunity to travel with Minister Richardson and I can tell you that he represents Anguilla well when he travels. I'm happy that when we go overseas, we are not bickering or fighting, but showing one united force because we all represent Anguilla. In the past, when I traveled as a member of the opposition with the former premier, the member for Island Harbour, so too was that relationship.

It bodes well for Anguilla. It means we can set aside whatever political differences we have and when we represent, we represent as one. So congratulations to both members. As we close out the year, I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every person in Anguilla, our visitors, friends, residents, and Anguillians in the diaspora a very joyous, safe, and peaceful Christmas.

Madam Speaker, we've enjoyed a period of time where we have seen a little bit of peace and quiet in our country, but we've also seen a number of persons who have passed on. As we close out this year, let's take some time to reflect on our loved ones, those persons who have left us on a number of occasions, untimely departures, unexpected and then others expected. Even though no matter how old you are, once you're a mother, you're a father, you're a parent, you're a family member, you will be missed and so we want to take this time to consider and think about those persons who have passed on, think about their families and friends and reach out and show some love during this Christmas season.

I also want to encourage us to reach out to those persons who maybe, persons who do not have the ability from time to time to take care of themselves, vulnerable persons in our communities, persons who are in our homes, our senior citizens and take some time to visit those persons and spend some time with them.

Madam Speaker, the new year brings new opportunities for Anguilla as we close out this year, we've had most recently the opening of the new airport terminal, we've seen the start of a number of other projects in the country and the new year will bring more of that and so we look forward to not just a prosperous New Year, but one in which every Anguillian can continue to benefit and to thrive and so with that being said,

Madam Speaker, I wish you the Members of this House, the clerk and staff who works so hard during the year and every other person who is listening and viewing a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. I recognize the Honourable Member for Valley North.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the general Anguillian public, the Members of this House, and of course, especially the members of the Valley North Community season greetings, wishing them the very best for the Christmas season and the New Year ahead as usual, I will do my normal Christmas visits to the senior citizens home in my constituency.

I happen to have three Senior citizens homes in my constituency and 4th care home, all in the Valley North community and the 19th of every year we go and visit each of those homes, we carry care packages but we also carry a band and music and entertainment for them and I know over the years the residents particularly look forward to us coming as a community and so we will continue to do that this year ,

I also want to express my sincerest condolences to a number of individuals who have lost family members over the last few weeks, most recently Mr. Marvin Proctor passed on, I wish to share my sincerest condolences with his family. Mr. Keshawn Lake has also passed on and I also wish to continue to share condolences as well with his family and we all know that the Christmas time and the Christmas period is always an opportunity to share time with our family and friends and it's always particularly hard when persons lose persons, especially close to the Christmas season, so I'll continue to keep them in our prayers.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the members of my team at the Ministry of Social Development and also the departments that are under my remit for the wonderful working and collaborative relationship that we've had over the last few months. I want to wish all of them a safe Christmas.

Most of them are actually taking vacation from this week and will return in the New Year, so I want to wish them the very best over that period and I'm wishing everyone generally a safe and successful holiday season and we look forward to working steadfast for Anguilla in the New Year.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member. I recognize Honourable Member Hodge.

Madam Speaker, thank you and as we close out this year, 2025, I also want to say thank you to the Cabinet and the leadership of the Honourable Premier for leading this country for the past ten months, Madam Speaker, we took over March 1st, 2025 and it has been a real enjoyable time so far working with this team and

I also want to say thank you to my PS, He would have come in at August 1st and it has been enjoyable as well. Thank you to the former PS who I served with From March until August, Madam Speaker, I just want to thank my entire ministry, Economic Development, Consumer Protection, Lands and Physical Planning, Natural Resources, and Water.

It’s a tough ministry but it's a fun one because we have a really good team from the department heads down to the technical staff, everyone working in this entire ministry, it has been an absolute pleasure. Passing the budget early this year, Madam Speaker, before we went down to the GMC, I think was a really good thing, you know, to get it out of the way so I thank the Premier and the Ministry of Finance for ensuring that we were ahead of schedule in passing the budget as early as possible.

It gives us time now to begin preparations for 2026. So, I want to say Merry Christmas to the people of Anguilla, from my family, my wife, my two sons and two daughters, we just had a new addition to the family, and I want to congratulate my wife. So just want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Honourable Member, and congratulations to the family's expansion as well. A nice Christmas present. Are there any other contributions? I recognize the Honourable Member for Valley South.

Thank you, Honourable Member, and congratulations to the family on its expansion as well. A nice Christmas present. Are there any other contributions? I recognize the Honourable Member for Valley South.

Good Morning to the House, morning Madam Speaker I too would like to take this opportunity to extend Christmas greetings to everyone who is listening. As we celebrate this Christmas season, I want to extend warm greetings especially to the people of Valley South, and to families across the community of Anguilla as a whole. This Christmas is especially meaningful to me, as it is my first Christmas as an elected representative of Valley South. I am deeply grateful for the trust that the people of Valley South have placed in me and for giving me the opportunity to serve this district. I would like to publicly thank them for their support, encouragement, and engagement as I traverse the different communities, and for their openness in welcoming me into their homes for dialogue and conversation.

Over the past few months, we have taken on many initiatives within the community, and we will continue to do so. As we share the Christmas cheer and Christmas spirit, we also have several initiatives planned throughout the different villages, and I encourage everyone to look forward to them. I would also like to thank the staff at the ministries. As you know, I span across two ministries—Infrastructure and Natural Resources—and it has truly been a pleasure working in both. As we enjoy the season, I encourage everyone to spend time with your families.

Rest assured, in 2026 we have a lot of work ahead of us. May your homes be filled with peace, joy, and health and I extend a warm and peaceful Christmas to the people of Valley South. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Today is the 16th of December, and in one day it will be the 17th of December. On the 17th of December, 2014, we were here in this Parliament the Honourable grandfather of the House, Mr. Evan McNeil Rogers, and I, we were just preparing; actually, we went to lunch together Evan McNeil Rogers, myself, and the Honourable Othlyn Vanterpool, We went to lunch together in South Hill at the Caribbean Restaurant, and we were driving back to Parliament. While we were driving, just in the vicinity of Walton Fleming, the ambulance was flying towards the West, and we said, “That person got to be serious,” with the type of speed the ambulance was going to west with. As we arrived here in the Parliament, just as I was about to speak and back then the technology was not what it is today and there was feedback, so everyone had to turn their cell phones off.

Just as I was about to turn my cell phone off, I received a call from my youngest brother, Greig. He asked me, “What are you doing?” and I said, “About to make a presentation in Parliament.” He asked me if I could come to the hospital. I said, “What’s wrong with you?” He said, “Not me—Brian.” I said, “What’s wrong with Brian?” He said, “He’s not feeling too well.”

So, I said, “Well, if he’s not feeling too well, I probably can’t do it until after Parliament.” He said, “No, it’s a little more serious than that.” So, I asked the Speaker at the time, and Evan McNeil Rogers, myself, and I went over to the hospital, followed by the rest of the Parliament, given the circumstances.

When we got to the hospital, my brother was dead. He had already passed. As a matter of fact, he passed in Mead Bay. So, in just a day, it will be 11 years. Mr. McNeil Rogers, time has flown. I remember that, but I also remember his contributions to Anguilla whole, when he passed. He had almost 200 employees. But also, Madam Speaker, tomorrow, I believe it is, we will be laying to rest another young man in the community, Mr. Keshawn Lake, who passed recently.

At 10 a.m., we will be laying him to rest, and that’s really sad. Anytime I hear someone pass under the age of 70, I think that is a young person. I always say that’s a young death, anytime and on this Saturday, a lady who has been a stalwart in the South Hill community, in the Road South community, Ms. Armin Connor, will also be laying her to rest and in the not too-distant future, a very close friend of mine, I visited the day before he passed, Mr. Livingston Hughes, the husband of Desiree Hughes, we will also be laying to rest. Madam Speaker,

I also want to thank the people of Road South in particular, Madam Speaker, the people of Anguilla in general but, the people of Road South and Anguilla, who took a chance on me in 2020—724 persons went out in 2020 and elected me to Parliament—and in 2025, 790—790-something—797 persons, I believe it was, went out and returned me to Parliament. I just want to say I’m eternally grateful to you and to those of you who did not vote for me, I’m also grateful to you, because there’s never a situation where everyone is going to support you, or your politics, or your goals, or your aspirations in terms of national development. You know, Anguilla is a place where we are very critical of everything, you know, and it would be long and exhaustive if I had to speak about those things throughout our history.

But I also want to say congratulations to the Lions Community Club. They’ll be doing their annual Christmas lighting. I don’t know— it have to be more than two decades since Flex and the team have been doing a Christmas lighting in the Valley area. It’s always a beautiful, beautiful sight, where families can come together and it’s one time in the year—you know, things have changed so much in Anguilla.

The Honourable Member for Road North and I were speaking recently about the fact that, you know, back in the day, we could be anywhere—young people could be anywhere in Anguilla—without having any fear or any problem and so forth and it has changed somewhat, but Lions Community Club is the center of the island is where people from the eastern side of the island, the western side of the island, and northern and southern and everybody can come together in a spirit in which the Christmas depicts for us,

Madam Speaker. So, congratulations to them and also, I want to wish the people of Anguilla a safe and prosperous 2025 Christmas and 2026, the people Road South and my partners in Road South, who I have been partnering with for a number of years: the Blowing Point Youth Development Foundation; the Maranatha Preschool; the Maranatha Church; the South Hill Community Club; the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School; Jaws Christmas Tree Lighting; and all the community projects that I have been involved with over the years, including Pantha Vibes, our two-time Road March champions. Congratulations to Pantha on his accolade as well. Finally,

I also want to wish my mother a wonderful Christmas. I know she doesn’t listen to Parliament, but I want to wish her a Merry Christmas, and I’ll see you today, I’ll see you on Christmas Day, and I’ll see you on New Year’s Day.

I also want to extend special Christmas greetings to my daughter, Jazara, who is off to university. I won’t see her this year, but I’ll see her next year, and I wish her the very best as she navigates the cold weather in the United Kingdom. I also wish her a wonderful vacation; she just went on vacation a couple of days ago and my sons—well, they live with me. So, on behalf of myself and my family,

I want to wish you all a wonderful, wonderful Christmas, and I look forward to a bright and prosperous 2026 for all of Anguilla. Thank you.

Thank you, honourable Member. I recognize the honourable member for Road North.

Madam Speaker, Christmas time it is a time of joy for a lot of persons. But we just have to turn on our radios, and we know that there are a lot of families who, at this time, are experiencing a lot of grief. I just want to send out my condolences to all those families who mourn at this time. Because while the rest of us and a lot of us will be out enjoying the Christmas tree lightings in different communities and having our cake and tart and strong liquor, there are a lot of families who are suffering, who are mourning the loss of loved ones and I just want to, you know, before I do anything else, send out my condolences to all of them. Madam Speaker, the Leader of Government Business, Madam Premier, spoke earlier about putting our differences aside and as I think about how we, as people in Anguilla, how it feels like we are becoming more and more fractioned like everybody is now finding small cliques all over the place.

We are going away from who we are as a people. We used to enjoy jollification when serenaders used to visit our doors, and you could just pop up on a neighbour and get a piece of pound cake, that cake with the colour in it, and brown sugar tart you know, those times seem to be going away from us. In a discussion with my honourable colleague here yesterday, we was speaking about how times have been changing so rapidly here in Anguilla and my encouragement to everyone who is listening to this is find time.

Yes, the gifts and the partying those things are nice; they come with the season but find time. Find time to visit family who you probably haven’t spoken to for a while. Find time to have a kind word for somebody who you’ve been holding a little grudge against, maybe because they didn’t say good morning to you. You know find time.

Just find time. Because we, as a people, need to grow. We, as a people, need to get together. Anguilla used to be known for its friendliness and its kindness and Madam Speaker, you just have to go on social media at any time of the day and realize that we are no longer those people.

So, my wish from the bottom of my heart is that we find time. We find time to show love for our people and before I sit down again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the entire Anguilla, and especially to the folks of Water Swamp, North Hill, Sandy Ground, and part of South Hill the area that I represent. I wish you a very, very, very, very, very Merry Christmas. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

For the outstanding work that Miss Proctor did today. She's allowed, She's tired. The public doesn't know, but her phone just went off. Are there any other contributions? Member Brian.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The year started on the 1st of January 2025 and today we are at the 16th of December 2025. Many months have passed, many challenges have been prompted and many successes achieved. In general, the public has had many wins in human nature and materials, but also losses in materials and also human. The world is moving very fast; transitions are happening in the blink of an eye.

Today I stand on the same sentiment and message that the Member for Road North expressed: family. Christmas is a time to rejoin with your family after a year of so many duties and responsibilities that may not have given you the opportunity to meet with your family members and to connect once again.

My message to the general public of Anguilla is to connect once again with your family members. Reach out, greet your family members, and enjoy that valuable time that God has allowed you to be with your family members. As I said previously, the world is moving so fast that today you are enjoying a moment with someone and then, unfortunately, a minute later that person could be gone and you haven't had the time to tell them how much you love them, how much you care for them or how special they made you feel.

Once again, to the general public and Members of this House, connect with your family, enjoy this Christmas, and I wish you a merry and happy Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Member. I recognise Member Rogers.

Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, a pleasant Good Morning and Good Afternoon to you and Anguilla in general. With your permission, Madam Speaker, before I get into the pleasantries for this season, I would like to refer to a comment you made this morning during that historic event where you commented and congratulated the staff of the House of Assembly.

I am paraphrasing here, and correct me if I'm wrong, where you indicated that they go...

I recognized the Member for Road South.

Thank you very much Madam Speaker, a pleasant Good Afternoon to you and Anguilla in general. With your permission, Madam Speaker, before I get into the pleasantries for this season I would want to refer to a comment you made this morning during that historic event where you comment and congratulate the staff of the House of Assembly and I'm paraphrasing here now, and correct me if I'm wrong where you indicated that they go over and beyond the Call of Duty and way past 4:00 at times in order to be able to get the work of this Honourable House and this country going and I

Madam Speaker would want the entire civil servants to take note of that. The reason why I am saying that Madam Speaker is because at the end of the day, we all work for the people of this country. This administration, like every other administration, will be challenged as we go forward, and we need Madam Speaker, a sense of purpose, a meeting of the minds with respect to not only the elected Members of government, the Civil Servants because we all work together for the people of Anguilla.

Madam Speaker at times, we the representatives of the people, we become overzealous and we want to do things for not only our districts and communities and so forth, but I'm asking, in the spirit of cooperation, the spirt of giving, that Civil Servants and ministers of government sit down this upcoming year so that we can achieve the maximum for the people of this country.

The accounting officers, elected Members of government, and the Opposition, we all need to work together in the best interests of Anguilla. The Honourable Premier mentioned that during her time as Leader of the Opposition, herself and the former Premier when they represent Anguilla outside of Anguilla it was a unified effort, your spies out of Trinidad and Tobago would have been proud of the effort of a Member of the Opposition and the Member of the government. Rewind, probably a decade ago, when I was Leader of the Opposition and the late great Hubert Hughes was Chief Minister of Anguilla, we also shared that same camaraderie, whether it was here in Anguilla or overseas. So, it is that need to work together, not only as parliamentarians but also with Civil Servants as well.

After almost two decades, Madam Speaker, in this Honourable House, I am still a rookie, I am a rookie because this is the first Christmas that I have spent as a representive of the entire island, Island-Wide candidate. So, I have to thank the people in Valley North particular for their continued support over the many years, but I have to go a little further now and to extend my sincere appreciation to the people in every single district in Anguilla,

I want to thank them again for allowing me the opportunity to serve in this Honourable House. I take the title of grandfather very seriously, because you have to be a father before becoming a grandfather and I want to thank this entire Cabinet and the Premier in particular for the stellar leadership that she has provided over the last ten months.

I believe that, as we face difficult times, she and the entire ministerial Members and Cabinet in general can only go from strength to strength. Madam Premier, as the grandfather of this House, not only impressive but you have demonstrated in such a short time the quality of your leadership in terms of not only providing Anguilla and your team with what I would call positive direction for the future but to be able to unify and to lead a diverse team, young, old, everyone with differing opinions, to come up with solutions as we move forward. That is the reason why, Madam Speaker, I said early on, we need the assistance and cooperation of the Civil Service as well.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and the ministers of government, the young and new ministers. Madam Speaker, again the people of Anguilla I must say are blessed with what I have seen over the last ten months. This is speaking from position of many years in this Honourable House and I would have worked with many administrations in the past. Madam speaker, those who would have lost loved ones over the course of the last year it is always difficult, but at the end of the day it is a reset, that we need when we lose loved ones.

The Honourable Member for Road South would have mentioned almost 11 years ago in this Honurable House we were faced with that difficult task again serves as a reminder that we need to be prepared because at any point in time this earthly transition can move on. The Honourable Member for Valley North would have mentioned a number of names our dear departed, and I want to single out my dear cousin Marvin and to say to his family.

The good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord and that is a journey that we all must take one day. I would want to wish everyone in Anguilla a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season and to say to our people that we need to be able to make our health checks as we go along, I want to say it to the men in particular, please, do your health checks and screenings, particularly ,

Madam Speaker the prostate screening exams. We will have other times when I would speak about females as we go along. In general, I just want to say to the people of Anguilla young, old make sure that you do your health checks as we go along because we intend from the Department of Health Services, next year, we have started it already but we intend to put it as a calendar event where we go from district to district to spread the word. Madam Speaker, so with that, happy I put healthy in bold safe holidays for all Anguillan's here in Anguilla and aboard.

Thank you, Honourable Member. Are there any other contributions? Mr. Green, is this your farewell with us or will you be back in the new year? We'll be back in the new year, OK. I want to just have one minute of your time. Is Dom here? If you could call Dom. I'm sure he's seeing us on broadcasting, but just so you know, how long has Dom been with us?

Two years. Five years. Oh, so Dom has been with us for five years. Dom is the hard work behind the scenes that we don't ever see. He's going off to university at a very brutal time because winters are very brutal. I wanted to invite him in. Hello Dom, I'm sorry to put you on the spot.

Everyone, this is Dom, who the public doesn't see, but you're going off to school at a very challenging time. It's winter, and it's a very brutal winter and for many of us that live in winters, I lived in Winterland minus 50 degrees, you're not going to hit minus 50, but it's going to be cold. I just wanted to use this opportunity to thank you for your hard work. You've always been so resilient, so helpful.

When we did the Senate and committees recently, I asked Dom to help with captions so the public could see what's going on, and you're always willing to help. The Members and the public are very grateful for your work. I want you to have a word with everyone after who has lived abroad and get some encouragement, because it's not like Tv, it's not like the movies it's going to be challenging. We should celebrate our young men when they're taking these bold steps. I asked him who he was spending Christmas with, and I almost feel like someone should go with him, but he assures me he will be ok.

Do as many things as you can—go skiing, see other places, visit Niagara Falls before you come back and give duty. Good luck in your venture. I'm going to ask Miss Proctor to present a small token from the staff and leadership, and I challenge our Members to also give you a small token if they can. We wish you the very best.

Thank you for all your work, Dom. Thank you. Unless there is anything further, I wish all of the Members and your families the best of the holiday season and a safe and successful 2026 to one and all. May I have a motion to adjourn?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move to adjourn, that this Honourable House be adjourned until sine dine.

Madam Speaker, I rise to second.

It has been moved and seconded that this Honourable House stands adjourned Sine Die. We are going to have Christmas, but we are coming back in January. Those in favour? Those opposed? This House stands adjourned.