Anguilla’s Chief Minister, the Hon. Osbourne Fleming, held his first press conference for the New Year on Tuesday, January 6, with Minister of Finance, the Hon. Victor Banks and Minister of Social Development, Hon. Evans Rogers, also in attendance.

L-R: Hon. Chief Minister Fleming, Hon. Evans Rogers and Hon. Victor Banks

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues and himself, Mr. Fleming took much pleasure in stating that the Christmas and New Year holiday season was crime-free, just as the Government had hoped. “It was also encouraging to note that we did not even have a serious accident,” he said. “The situation was calm exactly as we had wished and to that end I want to thank the entire population of Anguilla…for ensuring that the island continues to remain a low-crime destination. We hope that throughout 2009 we will see a continuation of this kind of good behaviour.”

Monetary Council Meeting

The Chief Minister reported that he and the Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, would be attending a meeting of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank on January 15 and 16. The meeting, in St. Kitts, is a follow-up to one held in October 2008 and will provide an opportunity for the Monetary Council and the OECS Authority to have joint discussions, and to agree on policy initiatives to deal with the evolving situation with respect to the current global financial turmoil on the economies of member countries.

“Global conditions continue to worsen,” a communique on the meeting from Governor of the Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, stated. “While the full impact of the financial crisis is unknown, the effects on the region’s growth prospects, tourism industry, foreign direct investment flows and financial system must be continuously monitored.” It has been decided that “a collective, well-coordinated and considered policy response is required” to combat the negative financial and economic trends affecting Anguilla and the rest of the region.

“It is important that we are around to engage in discussions of this kind, especially in these difficult times,” the Chief Minister told the media representatives, adding that Mr. Banks, the Minister of Finance, would not be in attendance as he would be out of office on a well-deserved break.

Mr. Banks commented that the Chief Minister had a keen interest in the island’s economic situation and that it was important for him and the Anguilla Government on a whole to see what other colleagues in the region were doing and what all of them could emulate from each other.

Closed Flag Project

Mr. Fleming reported that he and his colleagues had discussions on the Flag Project with Mr. Robert Sillerman, one of the partners, on Monday, December 29. “The situation has not changed drastically,” the Chief Minister stated. “Mr. Sillerman told us the negotiations [with financiers] are still ongoing. He is optimistic up to a point that the project will resume, but of course no fixed date has been set for that.” Mr. Fleming said that his understanding was that it would require up to US$245 million to complete the project. He was of the opinion that much of the island’s financial and employment difficulty would be solved if the project were to be re-started. “One of the things which came out in the discussions was the re-opening of the golf course,” he reported. “Mr.Sillerman told us that he is looking at giving the okay for that by the end of January…We told him we would like to see the golf course project open and reminded him that it is a partnership between himself and the people of Anguilla.”

Mr. Banks was of the view that “there was some movement with the Flag project.” He went on: “We are hopeful that the optimism that Mr. Sillerman showed in the meeting he had with us will be realised. We put our cards on the table. We said to him it is important that he takes into account the importance of the project for Anguilla’s development and in particular the golf course which is a significant part of the tourism product that we sell and which, now that it is closed, has impacted us considerably and we hope that something would be done about that. He assured us that we are working towards that very conservatively by the end of this month.”

Mr. Banks said Mr. Sillerman had also indicated that he had plans to move the project forward, but the Government was not at liberty to discuss the details of those plans. He believed however that “something will happen in the first half of 2009.” He added that Government was “aware that a project of this nature will not be allowed to languish and that it will move forward one way or the other and the Government will make sure that that happens.”

The closing of the project has resulted in the laying off of all the Anguillian, regional and international workers, making it difficult for the Government to allow the outside workers to remain on the island unemployed. Among them have been many Chinese nationals. “We have succeeded in repatriating a number of the Chinese and we are down from 284 to 37 and they also are making arrangements for leaving,” the Chief Minister stated.

Blowing Point Harbour Project

The reporters were told that the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal project was the main public sector investment project which the Government would undertake this year. The Ministry of Lands is actively working on the acquisition of land in the area and the funding, to be provided by the Caribbean Development Bank, has already been approved. The Chief Minister noted that the acquisition of the required land would be a very expensive factor, but the Government was moving forward with its plans.

Commenting on the matter, Mr. Banks said that Blowing Point was becoming much more important as an entrance to Anguilla, having contributed access to the island in the region of 60-70 percent over the past two years. It was therefore necessary for Government to make the terminal more convenient, welcoming and efficient in terms of passenger movements.

Mr. Banks drew attention to the fact that there had been some increased activity in the tourism sector in terms of jet flights to Wallblake Airport. He had the opportunity over the holiday season to visit a number of restaurants and other projects and was of the view that Anguilla’s home market was still intact although there was a need to create activities that would encourage more tourists to visit Anguilla.

New Labour & Immigation Policy

Mr. Fleming advised the reporters that on Monday January 12, a public consultative meeting would be held at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, when ministry and department personnel would unfold and discuss a new Immigration and Labour policy with the people of Anguilla. “We believe that this is a policy which we must put in place, but we will not do so unless, and until, we have the participation of the people of Anguilla,” the Chief Minister stated.

The Anguilla Constitution

The Government is full speed ahead with its efforts to have the Anguilla Constitution amended and upgraded with full internal self-internal Government as a priority aim. Mr. Fleming said that it was arranged for the Constitutional Committee, comprising Members of the Legislature and private sector representatives, to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to make further progress and later on to take the proposals to the people of the island.

He stated that the British team had informed the Anguilla Government that they would be in the region and would be available to visit the island around February 23 to begin the discussions. “This is not written in stone,” he said. “This is just what they have suggested to us and we have to make sure that we sensitise the people of Anguilla to what the exercise is all about. Once we are satisfied that the people of this country have been involved, we will then take the other step to tell the British team to come.” The Chief Minister was unhappy that Opposition Members Hubert Hughes and Edison Baird had discontinued attending the meeting despite various invitations. He and Mr. Banks feared that this matter could lead to some confusion in the constitutional process.

Anguilla’s Finances Down Last Year

Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, reported that Anguilla ended its 2008 budget with an expected deficit of EC$15 million, but with reserves of EC$36.4 million. He explained, however, that it did not mean that the reserves should be used to offset the deficit. “We believe that 2009 will require us to be much more vigilant about areas of revenue and expenditure,” he said, pointing out that Anguilla was continuing to be impacted by the global financial situation; and he listed a number of large foreign and local projects that were being affected. He noted that a number of the projects were still surviving and he hoped that they would continue to do so as their survival was an important part of the Government’s business plan in 2009.

Vehicular and Property Tax

Mr. Banks said there were a number of slightly-increased tax measures for 2009. Among them were vehicular licensing fees which were originally planned to be increased by ten percent. He was aware that the Inland Revenue Department had already begun to collect the increased fees, but he said the money would be refunded to those motorists who had so far paid as the decision was taken in the House of Assembly not to implement the increase.

The Minister stated that one of the measures which had been implemented was Property Tax relating to rental apartments, a matter which was causing some confusion. “It simply means that the license fee, on an annual basis, is computed on the rooms available for rent,” he explained. “If you have one-bedroom or a two-bedroom apartment, the license fee for having those types of operations is EC$300 per unit per year. It is EC$500 for over a two-bedroom apartment per year per room. If you estimate that across the year, it represents $25 a month for a two-bedroom apartment per month and for over two bedroom units it is $40 per month so it is not considerably [high]. That is the way in which the license fee is calculated because if persons in the apartment rentals have a three-unit, they shouldn’t have to pay less than a person who has ten units for rental. That is the way it is calculated to create equity.”

Mr. Banks told the reporters that the Government would be undertaking a review of the budget in March to see how the island’s financial situation was faring and what should be done to maintain or improve the economy.

Social Development Projects

Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, said he was chairing a National Social Transformation Committee which had begun to look at various projects and other matters under his Ministry. He listed a number of projects which would be commissioned this year. They include the Psychiatric Unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital compound, the Water Lab and the Juvenile Facility in the Forest area.

“Work will continue on the development of the Community College, [on] a number of schools in terms of upgrading the physical infrastructure and also to modernise and improve educational structures as well,” Mr. Rogers stated. He said that later this month the Chief Education Officer and the Education Planner would be traveling to the United Kingdom to attend the annual Ministers’ of Education Meeting and the British Exhibition for Technology in Teaching. In the past, as a result of that exhibition, the Anguilla Government had been able to acquire a number of interactive white boards, a new technical way of disseminating information in classrooms. The aim is to acquire more of the white boards and to improve and modernise the island’s education system.

The Minister said there were plans to provide more projects for the development of sports on the island, but noted that their implementation would depend on the performance of the economy. He disclosed that the final plans for an indoor sports facility were with the Ministry of Infrastructure and it was hoped that work on phase one of the project would be undertaken during the course of this year. Another project is a covered basketball auditorium at the Valley Primary School which is planned for this year to accommodate some of the practicing and coaching sessions. It is also hoped that the FIFA/Government of Anguilla Football Stadium at the Ronald Webster Park Annex would be completed and commissioned this year in time for an international match. Minister Rogers said his Ministry was also in the final stages of deciding on a developmental plan for the Ronald Webster Park, with cricket improvement being a main area of concentration.

Mr. Rogers stressed that there were plans to continue to improve and modernize the island’s heath care facilities for the people of the island. “We are going to look closely this year at customer service and public relations so that we can make improvements and allow the people of Anguilla to know what is happening at our institutions,” he added.

Political Criticisms

The Minister took issue with recent criticisms of the hospital’s services by Opposition Member and former Minister of Health, Edison Baird, relating to the emergency department and waiting time for attention. He felt the criticisms were misleading and that there was a lack of understanding of the functioning of the services there.

The Chief Minister and his colleagues noted that 2009 was an election year in Anguilla but joined in expressing concern about the political statements being made by callers to radio talk shows and what the Government saw as a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. The Government leaders were of the view that this was no time for politicking and that there was a need for them and the Opposition Members and other political aspirants to get together to look at the economic situation and other matters affecting the island and to arrive at ways and means to deal with the difficulties facing Anguilla. The Chief Minister said that the Government would in fact attempt to have such a meeting at a date to be announced later.

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