Anguilla’s Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Victor Banks, delivered a broadcast on Tuesday, October 11, in which he deplored the way in which a number of Anguillian professionals and concerned persons responded to and held meetings on the Physical Planning Bill and the Labour Code Bill.

He said the public consultations which the Government began in agreement with the Opposition, following discussions between the Speaker of the House of Assembly, David Carty, and Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, were intended to be non-partisan given the national significance of the Bills. He stated that the Hon Hubert Hughes, speaking on behalf of the Opposition, had applauded and agreed to the approach which also received the unanimous support of all the members of the House of Assembly.

Mr. Banks charged that the behaviour of the Anguillian professionals, particularly from the legal calling, at the last two meetings held by the Government, made its efforts impossible to conduct the proceedings in an atmosphere of mutual respect. He further said that the technical officers shedding light on the interpretations of the legislation were intimidated by the hostile nature of the audience and were therefore unwilling to continue.

“It was at that point that Government decided that the town hall meetings were counter-productive and accordingly cancelled the meeting scheduled for West End until further notice,” he explained. “Naturally, many residents of that community expressed dissatisfaction with that decision. While we apologise for the postponement we feel that to hold any meeting under those conditions would be pointless. In fact, even the West End meeting held in our absence sounded on the radio to be just as chaotic.”
Mr. Banks dismissed the charges that the Attorney General’s Chambers was responsible for the content of the Bills. “In short, the legal draftsperson converts government policy previously agreed in the Executive Council into legislative language,” he stated. “The legal draftsperson does not, as is being suggested, determine what policy decisions go into law. If Anguillians are not happy with the content of any bill, blame should rest squarely on your elected government – not those diligent and dutiful draftspersons or, for that matter, the Attorney General.”

The full text of Mr. Bank’s broadcast will be published in the next issue of The Anguillian for the public record.

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