For many years, in the traditional life of Anguilla, and its people, agricultural products such as pigeon peas, beans, great corn, guinea corn, sweet potatoes, yams and cassava, were grown in abundance on the island and served as the main food staples. Only rice, eaten with much frequency, like today, was imported – as well as cornmeal, though to a lesser extent, because Anguillians ground their own corn which they cultivated in large plots.
One of the extensive acreages of farming was The Valley Bottom nestled between the middle section of Stoney Ground and North Side. Its red soil appeared to have been extremely fertile, no doubt enriched in part by the manure from the animal husbandry which occupied the land area particularly during out-of-crop seasons. Frequent rainfall was also a key factor to the successful farming there, as it also was in other arable areas of
Anguilla. But, somehow, The Valley Bottom stood out as a prime agricultural area, unlike today when it is not only insignificantly cultivated, but a sizeable portion is grown up in bush. The reasons for its abandonment are clear. One is that there has been a moving away from much of the traditional agricultural activity inAnguillawhich has been largely replaced by large and diverse imports of food staples and other grocery products.
The first public reference to the above once farming area, as having been a contributor to the economic life of the people ofAnguilla, was made by Sir Emile Gumbs many years ago when he served as Chief Minister. He was at the time defending his travels abroad in the House of Assembly, having been criticised by the Hon. Hubert Hughes, then a member of the Opposition.
It was a sharp reply by Sir Emile when he blurted out: “You cannot catch fish in The Valley Bottom”. In other words, he saw that it was necessary to go abroad in search of investment and development rather than remaining at home, waiting for something to fall into the hands of the Government. It is not certain, however, what he had achieved but, under his leadership, there was steady progress and economic stability inAnguilla.
Today, one of the criticisms of the current Chief Minister is his frequent travels abroad. Some of them are considered by the public – and his detractors – to be fruitless, expensive and joy-riding and, perhaps, like in the case of Sir Emile, they think there is a need for a defensive or explanatory statement. On the other hand, a number of the trips are no doubt important toAnguilla, but there is obviously a need to report to the people on some, if not all, of their outcomes.
During last year, in particular, there had been a flurry of Memorandums of Understanding signings with a number of potential, or perhaps, speculative, developers. Today, the question is how many of them have in fact done some actual investment on the island? Probably only one has, on a limited scale.
This is not good enough in an island which once boasted a booming construction industry, with jobs for large numbers of Anguillian and foreign workers, but where there is now rife unemployment in the sector and the resultant great loss to the economy. Granted the difficult economic situation is global, but when littleAnguillais so terribly impacted it is both distressing and frightening. The position is further aggravated when prophets of doom are predicting a worsening local scenario.
The Chief Minister’s portfolio has responsibility for Finance, Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Tourism. It is a heavy and well-staffed Ministry, with a number of highly-qualified and experienced personnel in its varied departments, headed of course by Chief Minister Hughes. Unfortunately, one hardly hears about any trips abroad actually aimed at wooing investors/developers toAnguilla. In fact, there appears to be a wait-and-see posture – Government waiting for some potential investor or speculator who may, either haphazardly, or intentionally, visit the island to sound out investment possibilities.
There is a need to try some road shows and exhibitions to showcaseAnguillaas an island with great opportunities for development and industry, apart from its well-marketed and defined characteristics as a tourism destination. If we put our heads and energies to this task, and other related tasks, there is much reason for hope that success will crown our efforts to attract more investment toAnguilla, rather than merely waiting for it to come our way.
Sir Emile’s analogy that “You cannot catch fish in The Valley Bottom” should be taken as an urge to go out and bring investment toAnguilla, rather than wasting money on what are perceived to be useless frequent trips abroad.
