Editorial

During the latter period in office of the previous Government of Anguilla, there were at least two moratoriums on large scale tourism projects by foreign investors. Two reasons were advanced for these decisions. One was to avoid any possible over-development resulting in the importation of masses of workers to do a significant portion of the construction work, and perhaps for other non-belongers to serve in various capacities in the completed properties much to the disadvantage of Anguillians.

The past several weeks and months in Anguilla have been dominated by political matters and gossip which may have further divided the people of the island and given our territory a spate of unwanted publicity. This has been unfortunate in that some of the real problems facing us, such as the continuing financial and economic challenges, should be the overriding concerns of most of the local debate. This is not to say that political discussion is unnecessary or unhealthy in a small and thriving democracy, but it must not reach a point where it is damaging to the image of our community, especially if it emanates from those in leadership positions.

Last week, this column stressed the need for Church and State to work together, not really towards a harmonious relationship between themselves, although this is important, but rather in terms of their shared goals of exemplary leadership, problem-solving, peace in and the wellbeing of the community in the interest of the people they serve.

When Henry VIII took control of the sovereignty of church and state in England in the sixteenth century, it was mainly to get his way with the annulment of one of his marriages which was denied by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from which the breakaway occurred. But since then, separation of church and state has been, and continues to be, the subject of much debate throughout the world for a plethora of reasons which will not be explored here.

Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, was concerned with lovers, and although its context is very different from any current matter here, the expression could be applied to an untenable situation in Anguilla, last week, which was uncalled for and only gave us, as a budding island nation, and people, bad and damaging publicity.

The forthcoming visit to Anguilla by the newly-appointed British Minister for the Overseas Territories, Mr. Henry Bellingham MP, early next week, is a most welcome one. It is not known by us why, out of all the other Caribbean OTs, he only selected the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla for his visit.

Widely-scattered small houses, constructed from wood with walls overlaid by shingles, and with galvanize roofs, were the order of the day in Anguilla up to the time of Hurricane Donna in September 1960. Though substantially battered, most of those houses had survived at least two previous hurricanes, but it was Donna that razed almost all of them to the ground.

On the front page of this edition of The Anguillian, are the photographs of a number of local students who have excelled in the recent CSEC Examinations. Elsewhere in the newspaper are two lists of other examination results, some of them good and the rest not so good. Congratulations are however in order to all students who worked hard to gain success. Their teachers are also to be commended for their dedication and for unselfishly imparting their knowledge and skills to those they taught over the years.

It is now almost six months after the 2010 general election, and the establishment of the new Government, yet Anguilla is being torn to pieces as if the heated electioneering campaign is still on.

One of the things that the newly-elected Anguilla United Movement Government can boast about, with much legitimacy, is that it was swept into office by the popular vote of the electorate. Another feather in its cap is that it was later joined by Jerome Roberts of the Anguilla Progressive Party, when he crossed the floor from the Opposition side of the House of Assembly however that action was regarded on the island and elsewhere.

There is a saying, which is really true, that first impressions count particularly in a case of visiting a country or meeting a person initially. If those impressions are good, one never knows what opportunities for further engagement or benefits may eventually crop up. This holds true for visitors arriving on our shores at the ports. Their first encounter with Immigration and Customs officers may either make them feel welcome or unwelcome by the treatment they receive.

These days it is heart-warming to observe that there is a most welcomed lull in the commission of serious crimes in Anguilla. This is certainly a relief from past incidents when there was much worry among law enforcement agencies, government, the people and even perhaps investors. And yet, on a scale with other places elsewhere, criminality in Anguilla has never really reached a level where we found ourselves twiddling our fingers in despair, but we must not be complacent.

Notwithstanding the impending cuts and taxes to help offset the 2010 public service expenditure, and the difficult financial situation facing Anguilla, it was a relief that, after a second attempt, a budget was presented in the Anguilla House of Assembly this week which the British Government can sanction. Congratulations are in order to the Government and the technocrats who hammered out the budget, though carrying a fairly large deficit.

The use of the above phrase in this commentary is deliberate. It is a commonly-used expression in times of adversity, when the going is tough and when an alert needs to be sounded to avoid sinking in the depths of any given situation. And what do we need to be more attentive to, or cautious about, than the present financial and economic troubled waters in which we have entered and must stay afloat?

One of the election campaign highlights, which has come back to haunt us, with a new Government in place, is the matter of the Memorandums of Agreement which the previous Administration signed with the developers of the Flag/Temenos, Viceroy and Cap Juluca properties.

Anguilla Day 2010 has swiftly passed with its pomp and ceremony and this year it was pleasing to see our Revolutionary Leader, and revered Father of the Nation, James Ronald Webster, in a front-row seat at the Official Parade, his first appearance there in many years.

To come to think about it, it might have been a good and workable proposition if the arrangement whereby the Government of Anguilla extended the time to operate without a formal 2010 budget could have gone down to the end of the year rather than for just two months. The question is: what is likely to happen after June 30 with the expiration of that period? Will there be a further amendment to the Financial Administration and Audit Act to authorise additional public expenditure? It will be half of the year by then and it just does not look right or possible to pass a budget so late and to succeed in generating the revenue to support it.

At last the efforts of the new Government of Anguilla and its technical team in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development have successfully resulted in the hammering out of the 2010 budget before the end of April as required by law. Given the overwhelming fiscal difficulties, the uncertainties of a quick and sustainable recovery and the obvious need for new taxes in the absence of a good flow of revenue, the coming presentation of a budget, on Friday, is certainty good and welcome news.

Everybody is talking about the need for the people of Anguilla to hear what the latest information is regarding the working of the newly-elected Government, and the formula, or general plans, they may have to catapult the island out of its current economic and financial woes.

The appointment of retiring Anguillian Commissioner of Police, Keithly Benjamin, as Junior Magistrate, has attracted much attention in particular from the Bar Association which is questioning his experience in legal practice, matters of independence and impartiality, and has undertaken to express its concerns in radio talk shows and other forums. One has to be careful not to bring the Magistracy into public ridicule and contempt in that process.