COLVILLE PETTY

(The above captioned article, written by Colville L. Petty, was first published in The Anguillian in October 2003, some six years ago.

Anguilla has long been an island of seafarers. According to the Honourable Minister of Communications and Works, Kenneth Harrigan (1994), “We were born to fish and to plant our ground”. But Anguilla’s limited land resources never ever produced enough to sustain us so our people made maximum use of the sea.

The bright and sunny afternoon of Thursday 29th November will remain etched in the memories of most Anguillians. They were going about merrily, doing their daily chores, when suddenly all hell broke loose. The island rocked like a cradle.

In 2002, I wrote an article in The Anguillian newspaper about the state of Anguilla’s economy. In so doing, I did not use economic indicators like GDP, income per capita, MEW and HDI. Instead, I used the economic indicators which our political leaders used on their various platforms across the island. Now I am going to utilize those said indicators (underlined below), with which our people are well acquainted, in an attempt to compare Anguilla in 2002 with Anguilla in 2007:

In a little while you will see me. And in a little while you will not see me. So it was with our fifth Tranquillity Jazz Festival, produced by the Anguilla Tourist Board and BET Event Productions. It has come and it has gone. But the memory of authentic jazz is embedded in our minds; and its passion lives in our hearts.

I will long remember the House of Assembly meeting of 16th October 2007, for two reasons. Firstly, for Edison (Eddy) Baird’s seconding of Hubert Hughes’ motion which called on Government to help find a new site for Dolphin Fantasy. It was indeed good to see Eddy once again seconding Hubert’s motions because his refusal to do so was a sore point between them (the only members on the Opposition-side) for several months.

I almost did not write this article. Let me explain why. A few days ago, I was outside the Blowing Point terminal, awaiting the ferry to St Martin, where Floyd Lake and I exchanged greetings. Floyd looked good.

The following is a flashback to 3rd March 1984. Nashville Webster was at Island Harbour campaigning for re-election in that District. He was successful. In looking at his campaign speech one gets some idea of the quality of our politics back then and is in a position to compare it with present day politics and determine whether we are maturing politically.

I had started writing on the subject: “In political games, what surfaces is not truth and what is truth never surface!” But it was more complex than I had originally thought and so, not to overtax my already tired brain, I have put it on the back burner and opt instead for the much easier task of reporting the news that did not make the news.

Our booming economy aside, the early years of this century have been years of much sadness for our beloved Anguilla – have been times of weeping and gnashing of teeth because of the seeming lack of respect for human life. In order to highlight the extent to which the tranquil quality of life for which we were once renowned has deteriorated, I will recall the most serious acts of violence, from 2003 to the present, which contributed to its deterioration. I will recall them because many of us seem to have extremely poor memories and therefore easily fooled into thinking that things are not so bad.

Heavenly Father:

As I prepare another article for this newspaper, I ask that you guide my trembling hand and pen, my thoughts and my writing so that in the exercise of my rights of freedom of thought and expression, I do not libel anyone. Father, I am particularly nervous at this time, and I need to be extra careful, because Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, at a Press Conference on Tuesday 24th July, warned that anybody who libels him will be taken to court.

As a society whose sons and daughters are the descendants of slaves we should never be involved in the enslavement of other people. Neither should we condone it in any form. In light of what our forebears went through we should not fail to condemn slavery wherever it rears its ugly head.

Forty years after our Revolution, Anguilla now has first class roads from East End to West End. Actually, their quality is such that we are in a position to boast of having some of the best roads in the Caribbean. Our Government needs to be applauded for a job well done.

The parade of troupes for Summer Festival 2007 will be the poorer without Calf (Ralph Connor) who passed away quietly on Thursday 24th May at age 53. Calf, who wore a ring in his nose, was so nicknamed because of his rare ability to moo.

In recent times I have been getting mentally tired. I need a mental vacation so I decided to take this week off. But yet I find myself yielding to the wishes of some of the readers of my column who have been bugging me, for some time now, for a further peep into my Compendium of Anguillian Political Quotes. I have yielded to their wishes to give them an appreciation of from whence we came and to enable them to determine if we advanced beyond those times.

The long wait for Government to discuss with its people the recommendations of the 2006 Constitution Reform Commission is over. Government and Opposition members of the House of Assembly are meeting jointly with the people in an effort to seek their views. This must be applauded. Both Government and the Opposition members are making the point that the proposed amendments to the Constitution are aimed at democratising it. That too is plausible.

(This article first appeared in The Anguillian in 2004. It is now republished in light of the increase in criminal activity which we are presently experiencing.)

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The following words are etched in my memory:

Should I have known your life was so short
I probably would have told you get a fire burning
It only takes a spark.

I regret having to start this column with the ferryboat Niki V but I am compelled to do so because of my longstanding concern over the safety of passengers who travel on it. The Niki V has some roof lights in the deck cabin which are a health hazard. Some two or more years ago I struck my head against one of the lights and it sent me reeling. I spoke to some crew members about repositioning them but nothing has changed.

Jimmy Buffett? Who is Jimmy Buffett? That was the response of many Anguillians when they heard that he would be performing in concert at the Dune Preserve Retreat at Rendezvous Bay on Saturday 24th March. Most of them had never heard ‘bell nor market’ of him and wondered where the organisers of the concert had found him and why not bring in somebody like Michael Jackson. Then when our local new media began reporting that some 3,500 tickets (at US$100.00 each) had already been sold everybody began wondering what was so magical about Jimmy Buffett – and what was so great about his music.

The State Ceremony at the House of Assembly, on Friday 2nd March, honouring the life of the late Watkin Hodge MBE (Watko) was indeed fitting in light of his great contribution to Anguillian people. Even though his tenure as a member of our Legislature was a short one, it was highlighted by honesty, humility and caring. He was a remarkably honest man in a profession widely regarded as being the most dishonest. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for him not liking politics.