| After assembling off the George Hill main road from about 10 o’clock on Tuesday morning, December 13, between 60 and 80 persons, including Government political leaders, staged a protest march at about 3.45 p.m. at the Governor’s Office, at Old Ta, demanding the recall of Governor Alistair Harrison by the Foreign Office in London. |
The march was called by Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, who has been drumming up support, over the past days, for what he called going on “a warpath” against the Governor. One of his main concerns was his opposition to the transfer of four Permanent Secretaries, with effect from January 1, 2012, two of whose moving, he charged, was designed to adversely affect the functioning of his Ministry and Government. He also charged that the Governor was impeding his Government’s efforts for economic development. The lead placard (carried by two persons), followed by a cross, read: “The people voted for a Government not a British Governor”. Other slogans included: “Permanent Secretaries stay strong. Governor Harrison ten thousand Anguillians cannot be wrong”; Permanent Secretaries hang tight. Governor Harrison picked the wrong fight; “Governor we prefer you leave peacefully. Just ask Tony Lee”; “We shall overcome today;” “With or without the British Anguilla will survive”.
The protesters, who arrived singing their first hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers”, remained outside the wall and closed gates of the Governor’s Office until the appropriate time. The Police allowed in two women from the western end of the island: Rhona Richardson (petition bearer and reader) and Ivy Plank (reader of a list of complaints). They were followed by Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, and his Special Adviser, Jerome Roberts; Minister of Home Affairs, Walcott Richardson, and his Special Adviser Samuel Webster; and Minister of Infrastructure, Evan Gumbs. Governor Harrison met and greeted the delegation on the steps of his officeand led the way into the Executive Council Chambers where they sat around the table. Others in the Chamber included Deputy Governor Stanley Reid (who is caught up in the feud over the transfer of the Permanent Secretaries); members of the Governor’s Office staff and representatives of the media.
Rhona Richardson read “The Petition of the People of Anguilla,” to the Governor, which is said to have the signatures of 602 persons on separate papers. The petition was addressed to Mr. Henry Bellingham, Minister for the Overseas Territories. Ivy Plank read a list of complaints about the Governor which she also handed over to him.(Both the petition and the list of complaints are published elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.) Governor Harrison responded as follows:
“Thank you very much for coming and delivering the petition on behalf of your colleagues. I have seen the demonstration and read a number of the placards. “You have raised a number of issues, one of them including my future to which the British Government in London will respond to, rather than me. Some of them are quite detailed and I don’t want to go through all of them today, but just let me make me make a couple of points:
Firstly, … about the budget and the Chief Minister’s determination to bring the budget into balance by 2012. Like you, I would pay tribute to all the technocrats in the Finance Ministry who worked on that and brought it to the point where, as I understand it, the Chief Minister will present it in the House of Assembly at the end of this week, and the budget debate will take place. I think that is moving in the right direction. I would say we had an extremely amicable and business-like meeting in EXCO a few weeks ago which approved the draft budget to go to the House of Assembly. But, as you know, I play no part in the House of Assembly proceedings.
“Again, I thank you very much for bringing all of those points to my attention. Some of them are new, some of them are not, but I will go very carefully through the petition which you have presented; also when the names are available I will do the same. I promise you that I will respond appropriately as soon as I can. “Thank you once again for coming and a very pleasant good afternoon to everyone.”
This is the second time that the AUM Government has asked for the removal of Governor Harrison from Anguilla. Instead, an extra year was added to his three-year appointment. Mr. Bellingham said Mr. Harrison was a senior diplomat of outstanding experience and ability, and had the confidence and support of the British Government. |
