Daily News Photo by SEAN McCOY Anguilla Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming speaks Sunday at the Palms Court Harborview.

ST. THOMAS - Anguilla's Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming said Sunday that an economic boom on the island will create more than 1,000 new jobs during the next few years and encouraged his countrymen living on St. Thomas to return home.

Fleming also reminded the nearly 70 residents attending an Auguilla Association of St. Thomas meeting at Palms Court Harborview Hotel to vote for his party's candidates in the island's general election just two weeks away.

"We are not solely here for the election, but to discuss happenings in Anguilla," Fleming said.

Fleming said Anguilla is doing "fairly well" and is seeing an economic boom. He said his party, the Anguilla United Front, has made great strides during the last five years in building new roads, installing new infrastructure and increasing investor confidence in the island.

Signs of the economic growth on Anguilla, Fleming said, include the recent opening of the island's $21 million international airport, a multimillion-dollar golf course project under construction, proposed luxury hotel developments and an increase in home construction across the island.

These projects will create more than 1,000 jobs, Fleming said.

"I'm not here to force anyone to come home, but we thought we'd tell you the opportunities are there. The pay and services are good," he said. "Because of the boom we are experiencing, everybody that wants to work can find employment."

During a slide presentation at the meeting that featured newly paved roads, renovated buildings and the new airport, attendees clapped and cheered.

Max Carty, a native Anguillan who has lived on St. Thomas for 30 years, said at the meeting that on a recent trip back to Anguilla he was amazed how much the island has changed.

"I was away for 30 years, but in the last six months, I've traveled there many times. You have to see it to believe it," he said.

The upcoming Anguilla elections will be held Feb. 21, and five of the seven seats in the island's parliament are being contested, said Victor Banks, the island's finance minister.

"We are here to gather support because many Anguillans live on St. Thomas," Banks said.

- Contact Tim Fields at 774-8772 ext. 364 or e-mail tfields@dailynews.vi.