The acute financial situation in Anguilla today, and the solution we are pursuing, is like the age-old prayer we have often recited over the years both as a traditional religious custom and in fact as a destitute plea in lean times. The truth is that despite the prosperity which we enjoyed in recent years, and the hope of recovery we are still having, both Government and people, including churches, are in prayerful modes for the day when lucrative economic and financial opportunities can again come our way.

The Anguilla Government has not only been looking to divine providence for help but, as it were, it has been on its knees to Britain as well. Our leaders have not been begging the Mother Country for money, but only for borrowing permission to obtain loans to bolster the island’s waning public revenue and financial position and for project development. In contrast, the British Government has been unusually uncompromising to relax its stated borrowing guidelines as if they were sealed in concrete.

To add to the difficulty of the matter, there have been accusations by persons on the island about lavish spending of public funds or the giving away of revenue in terms of sizeable concessions to developers. It is a charge the Anguilla Government has brushed aside, pointing to various public sector needs on which large sums were spent. The Government has also defended itself by indicating that in terms of project development, one must give something to get something in return. And so the arguments have been going back and forth.

Let us say for argument sake that in some respects there has been over-spending or wastage of money. Why can’t Anguilla, like the proverbial prodigal son, return to its Mother Country for assistance in its dark hour of gross need? The Government has a point when it argues that during Anguilla’s booming years it handled its own financial needs and never bothered Britain and now that the difficult times have come, just allow some responsible borrowing. Further, on the question of income tax, and other taxes suggested by Britain, the response of the Anguilla Government has correctly been “you can’t tax the people when there is nothing to tax on.”

In recent weeks the pages of The Anguillian have been almost replete with articles and Letters to the Editor about Government Borrowing. Mr. Thomas Astaphan has been a leading writer in this regard, making some very useful and important suggestions which, if followed, may well have some positive results. Efforts like these can give some good direction and perhaps hope to a financially-strapped Government and people. The affairs of the island and a way out of the sad situation that has befallen us are matters in which the entire citizenry of Anguilla must have a voice and allow it to be heard.

At the same time it must be remembered that we have been a people of great faith and perseverance, and that in our humility we can still whisper to Almighty God: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” as we struggle on in a spirit of resilience and hope of recovery.

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

World News