Andrew George
Government House
Old Ta
Anguilla
British West Indies

1 May 2007

Dear Mr. George,

My wife and I have visited Anguilla since 1985; we own a house in Cul-de-Sac and had planned to retire to Anguilla in the future. Our children: 20, 14 and 9 are deeply attached to the island, it is their second home.

While we have never been under any illusion that Anguilla was free of crime, we are very distressed by the recent crimes wave, which appears to be out of all proportion to the island’s population. It does not reflect well on either the internal government, or Her Majesty’s administration on the island.

Our friends and neighbours (both expatriate and belonger) have expressed profound disappointment in the performance of the Royal Anguilla Police Force. We have heard about slow response times, botched forensics and the ever-present “Everyone knows who did it, they just won’t arrest him.” The escapes from Her Majesty’s prison simply exacerbate the impression of incompetence. We are aware of the recent actions by the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) and the initiatives announced this week by Superintendent Proctor. They are excellent ideas, but simply don’t go far enough to address the problems at their root.

We are deeply concerned for our own safety and that of our children, but we are also worried about Anguilla’s future. We can recite all the names of islands whose tourism base was damaged by similar events. Anguilla has been very lucky in its coverage, but we are one news story away from severe damage.

We appeal to Your Excellency to consider a more radical and far-sighted approach to the issue of crime on Anguilla. One which addresses both the systemic problems within the Royal Anguilla Police Force and the underlying challenges facing the island’s youth.

Yours sincerely,
Joel Motley
Isolde Motley
Scarborough, New York

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News