With the recent activity around the island, one can surmise that it must be that time again. Yes, folks, it’s that time again. It’s that time when our inept politicians begin to emerge from hibernation with their new spiel as to why we ought to give them another five years. This year, however, I sincerely believe that it’s going to be entirely different and I’ll tell you why. We’ve been in a daze from which we are yet to extricate ourselves.
Already the naysayers and flamethrowers are out en masse because they have nothing on which to run, so the next best thing for them is to try and narrow the field by attacking opponents directly and indirectly. It is a shop worn adage that if you don’t have anything good to offer about oneself, you bloody your opponent.
This year, however, these jokers who think that it’s going to be business as usual, had better give it some thought because they have nothing on which to run. All that’s left is to try and make sure that the other guy doesn’t win. I am here to say that my father and other family members sacrificed too much to let these charlatans have another go at it for another five years. We simply cannot afford to see this happen. Why would we elect this government for another five years? Have we lost our minds? Are these the same guys on whose watch our credit rating was downgraded from an AA to a BBB+? Are these the same guys who allegedly withdrew 40 million dollars from our indigenous banks and deposited them into a foreign bank, a bank, by the way, that an Anguillian couldn’t possibly qualify for a home loan, a move, by the way, that caused quite a bit of pressure on our local banks? Are these the same guys who constantly fought with the British Government, and then tried to have CARICOM come in to mediate? Are these the same guys who wanted to take over Cap Jaluca? I could go on and on, you get the idea. So one would be forced to ask the question: Why would we subject ourselves to another five years to this level of incompetence?
My fellow Anguillians, a new day has come and it is time that we wake up from our self-induced slumber and see the light. We can no longer afford the likes of Hubert Hughes and his ilk. They’ve had their shot and, for all intents and purposes, blew it. We are in a new era and a new type of representative is needed. We no longer want to listen to a bunch of grown men behaving like morons. We no longer want these people who think that the Government of Anguilla is their own private bank account. We have in this government an administration which, it’s fair to say really could not give a damn about its people. If it did, our people would not be starving; our people would not be off the electric grid because they couldn’t afford to pay their electricity bills. Folks would be able to pay their water bills. Once upon time water was free. There were standpipes and you could get all the water you wanted. Government by definition is there to govern, to do for its people what they can’t do for themselves. It is also the job of the government not to harm its people, which leads me to my next point.
The recent takeover of our two indigenous banks which is still very much on everyone’s minds these days. It is the main topic of interest on every radio and TV talk show. It is something that we as Anguillians are extremely concerned about. When we think of how far we’ve come, it is unthinkable to even conceive the thought that we might one day lose those banks. I’d like to remind us from whence we came and where we are. Let me remind the folks about how it used to be. In the early days, when just about everyone had to go away to places like Curacao, Aruba, Santo Domingo and the like, they would send what little money they were able to save back home to a relative who would then head off to the Valley Post Office, where the Government operated what was considered a bank. You were issued a passbook. This system went on for some time until the late sixties when Bank of America opened a branch. When Bank of America decided to get out of North America, Kennedy Hodge and Marcel Fahie came up with the brilliant idea of founding our own bank. They were able to purchase the Bank of America branch and with the blessing of the Sir Emile Gumbs’ Administration, NBA was born.
Anguillians with the aid of NBA and CCB were able to build businesses and homes, send their children off to college and do the things they wanted to do, because the banks were owned by Anguillians. Granted, have not always conformed to IAS practices and consequently, are suffering the consequences. It is not the intent of this piece to point the finger at any one person, but it is the intent to chronicle the repercussions that will be felt long after the ECCB team has left. Those two banks are owned wholly and solely by the people of Anguilla, and the only reason that they have an association with the ECCB was one of necessity, one that Sir Emile Gumbs, Anguilla’s then CM, saw as a way to guarantee us the flow of cash in the event we needed it, with an expressed written stipulation that the ECCB would have no direct authority in running our affairs. They could impose no restrictions on Anguilla with regard to our use of American currency. The ECCB for the most part had acquiesced to that wish, that is, until now. Our CM, who was allegedly never a friend of the local banks, allegedly conspired with others, perhaps for purely political reasons to bring in the Central Bank with his blessing.
To this day, you talk to people in the bank and they will tell you that they don’t know anymore than what is being printed in the paper. They’re either operating under a gag order or they really don’t know what the devil is happening. It is unfathomable that someone who is supposed to be looking out for our best interests, to this day has yet to come to the Anguillian people and tell them what’s up with the banks. This morning on the Mayor Show on KOOL FM 103, Mr. Kennedy Hodge, my brother, who is leading the charge to save the banks, was again the guest of honor and it was his expressed purpose to try and answer four questions with regard to “what’s up with the banks.” After laying out two anecdotal stories about cricket in the islands, Kennedy then paralleled them to the banking situation and my takeaway from both stories was that the selection process was flawed, and people who are going to decide the fate of the banks – our blood sweat and tears – are unelected and could not give a damn about Anguilla’s problems. Given the anemic support that our minister of finance gave those two institutions, and the alleged biased way that Mr. Kenny Anthony has approached this matter, given his track record, clearly an alleged conflict of interest exists, and both men should recuse themselves from having anything to do with Anguilla’s indigenous banks.
Representative Eddie Baird called into the Mayor Show to wish Mr. Ronald Webster a happy birthday: You’ll recall that it was Mr. Baird who introduced the motion on the House floor to grant Mr. Webster his day in the sun. Mr. Baird, while he was at KOOL FM, commented that it was the job of the Minister of Finance to come before the people and let them know what’s going on with the banks. Shortly thereafter, Miss Pam Webster, Independent Candidate for District One, called in and she reiterated the fact that the minister of finance has the duty to come before the people and, as a matter of fact, implored him to be forthcoming and let the people know what’s going on. Well, I told Ken that he has to know that by now they know what he’s up to and how would he respond to their attacks? Ken proceeded to tell the story of David and Goliath and we know how that ended. No sooner had he finished telling the story, the phone rang and on the other end was – yep you guessed – our esteemed Minister of Finance. He then proceeded to lambaste Kennedy in the basest of terms. He accused him of all sorts of things and as a matter of fact, embarrassed himself on national radio. He lit into Ken with a personal barrage of things that had nothing to do with the banks and I think in so doing telegraphed his true intentions towards them. The exchange became heated and, as usual, it was a one-sided conversation, because the CM does not let anyone respond. As a member of the panel, I had to listen to Hubert attack my brother and I want to tell the CM this: It is because of people like our father and other members of our family that you sir and your ilk are able to live in the manner which you enjoy. You, sir, was an alleged traitor to our cause. You backed Robert Bradshaw and in the presence of Mr. Webster, whose birthday we celebrate this week, called Bradshaw a great man. Now I don’t have to defend Kennedy. He is very capable of doing so himself. You, sir, the leader of our nation behaved in a manner that’s not commensurate with the high office that you hold. You lack the wherewithal and the subtlety that go with being a great statesman. You’ve had multiple chances and you’ve squandered them time after time. Kennedy is out there trying to save what we worked very hard for and, no thanks to you, might very well lose. Do you not understand that Anguilla does not belong in the same sentence as St. Kitts and Nevis as a union of anything? Did you not understand what 1967 was all about? Don’t get me wrong. We have no argument with the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. They are our brothers and sisters and we love them dearly. Let them manage their affairs and let us manage ours.
Now, as I’ve said before, it has long been alleged, that the CM was never a friend of local banks and in his actions now appear to be a chance to exact his revenge, his pound of flesh, from those with whom he has had disagreements. It is sad to see this once proud politician now reduced to a shadow of himself. To hear him on the radio behaving in the manner in which he did, says a lot about us as a people. It begs the question, how the hell did this happen? Well, we know how it happened and we have to get beyond it. I was always told “it’s no use crying over spilt milk.” We have to get over this and move on.
Kennedy deserves our wholehearted support and it’s amazing that those shareholders who stand to lose the most are now pleading poverty. Are you folks serious? You are sitting in a boat that’s sinking. While you sit with your arms folded the others are frantically bailing? Really? You large shareholders, wake up. What the hell are you are you thinking? What are you going to tell your children when you lose everything? Have you given any thought about what is about to happen if nothing is done? Where are the majority shareholders? Are you satisfied? Sure, it’s easy for me to speak and I do so because I’m an Anguillian and I’m tired of people thinking that we’re a bunch of gullible Johnny come latelys. We fought for this rock and it irritates the hell out of me to see those who opposed everything that we tried to do are now the beneficiaries of our actions.
For too long now, we’ve gone along to get along. Well, I think the time has come for us to wake up from our malaise as Kennedy so eloquently put it this morning. This hornets nest is about to break open and if anyone remembers anything about the Anguillian psyche, knows that this is a fight they don’t want. Sir Venner and company will not go into St. Lucia, which is in worse shape than Anguilla. Mr. Anthony, their PM, will not allow them in, but he is willing to determine Anguilla’s fate. How is that possible? Where are the majority shareholders? Why aren’t you fighting? Why hasn’t someone filed a lawsuit to stop what they’re trying to do? Are you all satisfied to sit on your behinds (and I’m being respectful) and let perfect strangers come in and decide our fate? What the devil do they know about those banks? I’m calling you out, as a fellow shareholder, and perhaps as someone who would perhaps one day exercise the option of wanting to build on Anguilla. Do I not deserve the opportunity to do so? Will you deny me and this younger generation the opportunity to do the same?
The Minister of Finance thinks that he’s entitled to his own facts and if this morning is any indication of where he stands, then we know that he’s already telegraphed his hand. Unfortunately, the CM lacks the social graces, statesmanlike conduct, tact and diplomacy required to lead us. I therefore join with Eddie Baird and Ms Pam Webster in asking the Honorable Chief Minister to level with the Anguillian people as to the fate of their indigenous banks – banks without which we’d be nothing more than the Godforsaken rock that everyone thought us to be. Remember, we were left for dead. We’ve endured pestilence, famine, drought, starvation and the like. We’ve had the British frigates waiting to take us to a fate worse than death in British Guiana and what did we tell them? “Hell no! We won’t go!” Well Sir Dwight, take a bit of advice. At the risk of being slapped by my grammar teacher: “Hell NO! It ain’t happenin’!”
In the movie Gentleman’s Agreement, the protagonist was telling the story at a dinner party about a guest who told a disparaging joke about the Jewish people. One of the guests at the party, a Jewish man, asked the person, “And what did you do?” The reply came back, “I was so ashamed that I did nothing.” The person then conceded that she was just as guilty as the one who told the off color joke. Our Chief Minister, for too long now, has bullied and berated everyone in Anguilla, from the lowest guy on the totem pole to the highest, and he has gotten away with it because we let him. Mr. Banks, as the former Minister of Finance, you can put a lot of Mr. Hughes’ assertions to rest. There comes a time when one has to stand up to the bully and give him his comeuppance. We have had to endure two decades of this nonsense. The theme of the Mayor Show is Short Shirt’s “When,” the lyrics which ask “when will we get together.” We seem to be trapped on a merry go round and can’t get off. After a while your head spins so much that you don’t know which way to go, and so I ask “when will we learn to work together?”
No one knows what will happen – if we did we could bottle it and make a fortune. We have to take it one day at a time. It doesn’t mean that we have to let people who knows not from whence we came, come in and trample our rights, treat us as insignificant third class citizens. Where do Sir Dwight and Hubert get off allegedly thinking that they can pull off a second edition of the great train robbery? Anguillians, this is a call to action. We’ve been there before, done that and we surely as the Dickens can do it again. They don’t know who they’re messing with. It’s our money and we want it back and by any means necessary. It was truly unfortunate to hear the CM behave in a manner that’s not commensurate with the high office that he holds. He has lost all credibility and really can’t govern anymore. I think it’s in the best interest of all concerned that the CM call early elections, but don’t hold your breath. I’m listening to KLASS which plays calypsos on Saturday nights and one would think, my God, it’s amazing that those people have survived. Because the pictures that have been painted always seems so grim, but I digress. Captain, “examine the horns, there’s a traitor on board.”
We are truly facing a difficult crossroad and we have to proceed with caution. We are about to lose what we fought for unless we stand up and fight. To the shareholders of the two banks, I’m going to tell you what John F. Kennedy told the American people during his inauguration in 1960: “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” So I say to you, my fellow Anguillians, what will you do for your country? Some of you have said you don’t want to throw good money after bad. So what do you think is going to happen when it’s all gone? Shareholders, you can get up and get involved. Kennedy cannot do this alone. Are you going to get on board and start bailing or are you going to sit with your arms folded?
Again, I ask you to stop and think about what’s at stake here, and if after doing that you still think you’re throwing good money after bad then, with all due respect, you’re not as bright as I thought.
As I’ve said in my opening paragraph, timing is everything. The timing of the CM inviting the ECCB in – those politicians who now are taking an interest in their district. Where were you the last four years? Donations and gifts are nice but, coming so close to election, calls into question your motives. Cora Hodge who was unjustly lambasted by the government, and then was completely exonerated of any wrong doing, is again contesting district two. After having a brief conversation with her, but a more extensive one with one of her surrogates, Mr. Smith, I believe that district two will be in good hands. Of course, I’ve had the privilege of being on stage with Ms. Pam Webster during her send off a few weeks back. These women have been in their districts all along and their actions speak volumes. Let me say this – the women have always proven their worth. They were the ones who raised us, they were the ones who stayed up with us all night when we couldn’t sleep, they were the ones whom you could depend on, and Mama would always make it right. They are not going to engage in petty politics and the research shows that they’re less likely to engage in wrongdoing. I see women in politics as the ones getting the job done. They have that stick-to-itiveness that’s needed and I’m fully on board with them. Mama, happy birthday, and to you Mr. Webster: a Happy Birthday and May God bless and keep you.
I’ve said a mouthful today and I don’t make any apologies for anything that I’ve said. If I’ve offended anyone, then so what! You should be offended by what is happening to us.
Until then, I’m going to wish everyone the very best and may God bless us all and may God continue to bless Anguilla.
