Editorial

If there has been any form of real national relief in recent times in Anguilla, it was the signing on Monday this week of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Anguilla (represented by Chief Minister Hughes) and CuisinArt Golf Resort and Spa (represented by its owner, Leandro Rizzuto.

Over the past several days, the Anguillian community was rife with rumours that the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Hubert Hughes, had made a claim in Executive Council for EC$40,000, a refund for telephone bills twelve years ago when he served the island in his present position.

Elsewhere in this edition of The Anguilian, it has been reported that the Executive Council gave its approval for a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the Governments of Anguilla and St. Maarten for a docking facility at the Simpson Bay Lagoon.

One of the New Year wishes that anyone in Anguilla should have is to see the economy of the island turned around very quickly. Apart from local politicking, the main cause of the current stagnationis commonly blamed on the global economic and financial situation that has seriously impacted both big countries and small island states like ours in particular.

Anguillian Methodist Minister, the Rev. Dr. H. Clifton Niles, is quoted as having declared in one of his stirring sermons: “Don’t let anybody tell you ‘Happy Holidays’. It is Christmas for us.”

The early part of this week has seen what were described as two protests for peace. The first was on Sunday, when cyclists rode across Anguilla calling for an end to violence. The second was on Tuesday, when less than one 100 persons (estimated between 60 and 80) marched to the Governor’s Office with a petition for his recall. The two events, though mentioned together, bear no relationshipother than that they were both labeled endeavours for peace.

There seems to be some need for explanation as to whether or not the 2012 Budget will have to rely on a set of new taxes to help raise the revenue necessary to offset the estimated expenditure of some 188 million dollars. The Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Hubert Hughes, has categorically stressed that there will not be any such taxation.

Anguilla is one of the various small economies in the region where there is a high dependence on tourism, and where the expression of carrying “all our eggs in one basket” fittingly applies.

One truth in Anguilla is that regardless of the political fallout and financial difficulty assailing the island, there are some positive steps being taken which, if successful, should do a whole lot of good for many of our people, particularly the younger generation.

A number of events in the immediate past in Anguilla resulted in much apprehension among the citizenry and also presumably some negative publicity outside the island. The incidents included a resurgence of criminal activity such as violent robberies and shootings which caused serious injury to the victims. On top of all of that has been the unfortunate situation at Cap Juluca which, until it substantially lessened, within days, had squarely placed the world-renowned propertyat thecrossroads in the island’s up-market tourism industry.

It was only fair and fitting that the outgoing chairman and members of the Water Board should have had the privilege and pleasure to preside over the official commissioning of the 500,000-gallon state-of-the-art water treatment plant at Crocus Hill. It has been the biggest project ever undertaken by the Water Corporation and the persons involved have played a major role in its accomplishment. It sprung from an idea conceived some 15 years ago, but gathered momentum over the past three years or so, and finally came into fruition on Monday this week, with the coming into operation of the plant.

Any other Government, which would have had the task of running Anguilla at this time of economic and financial austerity, would, like the current Administration, encounter much challenge and headache. The difference, if any, in terms of economic development and prosperity for the people of the island, would have been primarily due to skill, experience or luck. But it certainly would not have been possible to easily escape the dictates and grips of the prevailing global economic situation. The blunt reality is that it is incumbent on the Government to bring to bear a sense of duty, passion and creativity that would, in some way, result in moving the island forward.

The provision of a solar panel system to the Health Authority, by the Anguilla Electricity Company (ANGLEC), to reduce the cost of electricity at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, is a thoughtful and significant donation. Any public sector, private sector or statutory-run organisation, paying out over one million dollars per annum in electricity bills, like the Health Authority, runs a serious financial risk.

Anyone who listened to the presentation of the report and recommendations contained in the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan, prepared for Anguilla by Halcrow/CHL Consulting, will have to admit that he or she was very much impressed by its scope and vision. Easily, the report, with its expert detail and analysis, must be adjudged to have been the most thorough and ambitious attempt to put Anguilla’s tourism on a sound footing. It is also an aggressive plan to radically turn around the industry not only in these challenging economic and financial times, but at a period when Anguilla is facing stiff competition in the marketplace.

It appears that there will be little or no resurgence of the financial and economic situation in Anguilla in a hurry. In a letter to Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, the Minister for the Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham, told him that as the Anguilla Government’s own analysis showed, revenues were falling short of the budgetary level, meaning that at the end of 2011 the budget deficit would be larger than expected.

Some three weeks ago, a sizeable number of public and private sector stakeholders scratched their heads at a forum at Paradise Cove Resort to find answers and solutions to Anguilla’s declining tourist industry. It is a great pity that after a most successful performance of this national economic venture for many years, probably at the envy of some of our Caribbean neighbours, we should now find ourselves in the unfortunate position of struggling to keep this vital industry alive and profitable.

The passing of Anguilla’s most distinguished and respected jurist, Dame Bernice Lake QC, like all deaths, has left an aching void in the hearts of all who knew her.

This has been a loaded week for the Ministry and Department of Education and the Ministry of Social Development and the Health Authority in Anguilla. First, it was the reopening of schools with all the associated challenges of continuing the task of educating and managing our teeming band of youngsters; then it was the public consultation on the long-debated and extensively-amended Education Bill; and the launching of the Chronic Care Passport pilot project to look at a number of diseases, including diabetes, now affecting many people in our small society.

“Clapping should not mean that you want a new tax,” Mr. Ved Gandhi told his applauding listeners following his recent presentation in which he stressed the need for the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) or VAT (Value Added Tax). It was both a candid and pertinent remark.

Past and present Governments of Anguilla, and the people of the island, owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Leon Roydon, and his son, Nigel, who have spent the better portion of their lives enwrapped in the meticulous, but rewarding, operations of Malliouhana Hotel and Spa at beautiful Meads Bay.