I am encouraged this year by the growing level of patriotism, or maybe just interest, in celebrating the 47th anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution. This interest was shown by the many people adorned in the colours of the Anguilla flag and some people really getting into the patriotic mind frame. There is no doubt in my mind that most Anguillians, both those resident in Anguilla and those living overseas, really do love Anguilla. We love “The Rock”. There are also many other residents in Anguilla, and visitors to Anguilla, who really love our island as well. However, all is not well and there is much to be done by ALL of us working collectively and cooperatively to fix it.
The period leading up to the Anguilla Revolution was a period when this island was very much neglected by the Central Government in St. Kitts and by Britain, our mother country. The cries of our people to have basic infrastructure put in place, to enable economic development and to improve the quality of life for the residents on the island, were all ignored. When the people of Anguilla rebelled against the awful treatment, there was little or no support coming from our Caribbean brothers and sisters, except some support from the Government of Jamaica to whom we must be grateful. (Ironically, today Jamaicans are required to have visas to enter Anguilla because of our broken immigration system, while at the same time our students are still taking advantage of educational opportunities on that island.) We were an isolated but a proud resolute people. We defied the odds and we came through the difficult and uncertain period spanning 13 years, from 30th May 1967 – 19 December 1980. Until Anguilla was formally separated from St.Kitts-Nevis on the 19th December 1980, we were in “revolution mode”.
So the period between 19thDecember 1980 to the present is the period that we must take full responsibility for. Pointing fingers will not accomplish much. However, some of the mistakes made in recent times must be highlighted. To this end, I want to bring into focus how we started the 21st century with no infrastructure such as a proper airport or seaport to sustain the tourism industry. Here is the revenue position of Anguilla in 1999 and the proposed budget for 2000. In the 2000 budget speech the Hon. Minister of Finance Mr. Victor Banks said:
“I believe, Mr.Speaker, that in light of the projections of the performance of the economy in 2000 just commented on, and taking into account a number of Government initiatives, the Revenue Estimate of $75,116,000 for 2000 is realistic.
“The Revenue Estimate for 1999 by comparison was $63,474,100. This means that an increase in Recurrent Revenue of $11,641,900 is anticipated, equivalent to an 18.34 % increase from the one year to the next. The question will be asked: How will this increase be achieved? Mr.Speaker, we have been able to use the performance of revenue for the first three months of 2000 to assist us in working out the Recurrent Revenue Estimates for the entire year. As a result we project that the increase will come mainly from Earnings of Government Departments, that is Revenue Head 10600, and from Indirect Taxes, Revenue Head 10200. The estimate of Earnings of Government Departments is $14,732,200. For 1999 it was $8,675,200. The difference of $6,057,000 is 69.82 % greater than the 1999 estimate. The increase will come primarily from Water Rates and Sale of Water, Revenue Subhead, 10612 and from a new Subhead 10645, Domain Name registration”.
I am of the view that a budget increase of 18.34% was extremely high when one did not have a sustainable economy. It is nothing short of recklessness. What exactly were we relying on to sustain this revenue when the sources of indirect taxes fail? There is no doubt that the fall back plan was more taxes on the poor people of Anguilla whose salaries were hardly increasing or on deficit spending while hoping for windfall money from some mysterious source. Meanwhile, the expenditure for the same 2000 year budget showed a similar increase. I again quote from the same budget speech:
“Mr. Speaker, Government’s proposals for the 2000 Recurrent Expenditure Budget provide for a total of $75,018,486, an increase of 18.35% over the 1999 estimate of $63,384,434. The major increases will be in Water, Education, Treasury, Financial Services, Secondary Health Care, Attorney General’s Chambers, Ministry of Finance, Customs and the Ministry of Social Services. The most radical increase in costs will be in the Water Department amounting to $3,221,448 over the 1999 figure of $2,091,438 to a 2000 estimate of $5,312,886 an increase of 154 %. This is a direct result of the implementation of the agreement between Government and Aqua Design/Ionics for the daily supply of 400,000 gallons of desalinated water for distribution by the Water Department. Every effort will have to be made by the Ministry of Infrastructure to ensure that as much of this expenditure as possible is recovered through the efficient collection of water rates”.
So what we saw was a budgetary increase of 18.3% in revenue and expenditure in 2000. At the same time people’s wages did not increase. Additionally, the island was not experiencing double digit inflation to warrant this level of increases in revenue and expenditure.
Things got progressively worse, and by 2009 the expenditure and revenue budgetary requirements for the island were stated by the same Hon. Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, in the 2009 budget speech as follows:
“Mr Speaker, the revenue budgeted for 2009 is $243 million. This is 3% more than the revenue budgeted for 2008. The budget is based upon actual collections during 2008, and realistic projections in revenue for 2009, and taking into account the global recession that is currently affecting all countries including Anguilla”. Can you really believe that it was said in the budget speech that a budget of $243 million was “realistic projections in revenue for 2009, and taking into account the global recession that is affecting all countries including Anguilla”.
The actual amount of revenue collected was $145.6 million. This represents $97.4 million less than the $243 million which was projected.
On the expenditure side of things, the next quotation that is taken directly from the budget speech is most laughable and depressing at the same time:
“Mr Speaker, to provide the necessary services on the recurrent side of the estimates for fiscal year 2009, the Government of Anguilla plans to spend $241,304, 546. This represents an increase of 20% over the estimate 2008. There are many reasons why there is the increase over last year. Recognizing the impact of inflation and the salary increase for civil servants in 2008, some of the reasons for the increases will now be discussed. At this point, I must also point out that a scheduled increase for civil servants in 2009 has not been included in the recurrent expenditure estimates because in these challenging times the public service is not immune from making sacrifices”.
The Minister of Finance was brave/cunning enough to point out that the Government of which he was a part was considering another increase for civil servants in 2009. He put civil servants forward, but if the past trend was any indication of future behavior, most of the increase again was going to be for the Ministers of Government, and all of the other elected and appointed people in government.
Now, looking at the behavior of our Government for the period 1999/2000 to 2009, one can only conclude that there was no love or concern for the people of Anguilla. How could one expect our small population to raise $243 million plus of revenue a year? The fact is if “windfall” revenue from the sale of real estate stopped, Anguilla could only raise around $140 million. It was the shortfall in revenue which should have been seen, given the global recession and the reckless increase in expenditure that plunged Anguilla in the present crisis.
The response of the Government to the crisis since 2010 has been to impose tax into tax. These taxes were imposed on the people of this island most of whom are unemployed, underemployed and some working for very low wages. The decision to increase salaries by 50% for politicians and other top civil servants was agreed by ALL elected politicians except Mr. Albelto Hughes who said that it was not sustainable. Every elected politician, including our current Hon. Chief Minister Mr. Hubert Hughes and his former Hon. Minister of Social Development Mr. Edison Baird, voted in favour of the increases. While the Anguilla United Front formed the government in power at the time of the economic crash, the opposition supported the introduction of the extremely high pension and salaries for politicians i.e. for themselves.
So, today, we are going through a very rough period of “stagflation” (high inflation, steadily high unemployment and slow economy growth) all brought on by our politicians who say that they love us and are doing everything in their power to improve conditions of life for us. Really? What we the poor people of the island have gotten so far are higher taxes, and new taxes, with a plan by the Hon. Hubert Hughes led Government to introduce VAT(Value-Added-Tax) in the near future (see page 14 last paragraph of 2014 budget speech). So under this Government expect even more taxes if reelected. I invite both the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) and the Anguilla United Front (AUF) to read Parkinson’s Law and get familiar with it. After doing so, let us focus on stimulating and enabling the private sector to grow efficiently in a way that will position Anguilla competitively.
The challenge for us is to ensure that Anguilla never finds itself so vulnerable again. We need to pickup the winning spirit of the Anguilla Revolution of 1967, translate it for our time and deliver for ALL people living in Anguilla and for ALL Anguillians. What is required now is a streamlining of all costs excluding civil servants salaries via process re-engineering and needs assessment. To cut the number of civil servants in an economy where jobs are not readily available would be cruel and lead to further damage to the already bad economy.
The Government of Anguilla, under the leadership of the Anguilla United Movement, finds itself today with a debt of over $270 million, with civil servants owed just under $30 million and Anglec owed over $10 million. What is even more concerning is that we don’t have much to show for this debt. We have an ungraded airport with downgraded usage as just around 10% of passengers coming to the island come via the airport. This percentage is way lower than where it was a few short years ago. However, all of us are now stuck having to pay off this huge debt. It is like having to pay a large mortgage on an uninsured house for many years and the house was totally destroyed by fire, hurricane or an earthquake. This is where we, as Anguillians, find ourselves because of reckless spending and bad management on the part of the AUM led Government and the AUF led Government.
The focus must then quickly shift to enabling a sustainable and well diversified economy before getting ahead of ourselves and “dramatically or significantly” increasing recurring expenditure. One good “cherrie crop” does not mean that you have a “cherrie industry”. To this end, the DOVE Party proposes a few areas of focus to secure and safeguard our people from another major economic downturn:
1. Ministers of Government all commit to taking a 50% cut in pay
2. Ministers of Government to not have vehicles supplied by the Government of Anguilla.
3. Focus aggressively on marketing Anguilla after doing research to determine the most effective approach, including diversifying the product that would yield the best return on the marketing dollar spent, and getting the word out in the international market about our existence and what we have to offer as a tourist destination.
4. Immediately move the island away from its exclusive dependence on fossil fuel and move to at least three sources of renewable energy: waste to energy (if proven SAFE and sustainable), Solar energy and wind energy (see article in the business section of the Miami Herald 31 May, 2014, entitled “Energy woes hurting Caribbean”). We would still need to have fossil fuel generation around on standby.
5. Expand the Clayton Lloyd International Airport to accommodate jet service coming out of major markets in North America, South America and possibly Europe.
6. Build at least two marinas using private/public sector partnerships. At least one marina should have a duty-free board walk with restaurants and boutiques etc.
7. Support and enable the expansion of the St. James Medical School to 1,000 students or more from its current enrollment.
8. Support the introduction of a Nursing School and Marine Biology School with a student body of 1,000 students combined.
9. Aggressively roll out an economic “residency” program where we attract moderately wealthy, active, retired people to live in Anguilla dispersed throughout the entire island.
10. Reform health services on the island to ensure that the basic and most common healthcare needs are met, and that emergencies can be handled where patients can at least be stabilized and evacuated if needs be. Also ensure that all citizens and residents of Anguilla have good health insurance. With our small population, we will never be able to address all of our health issues on island and we must be realistic about it.
11. Reform and refocus our education system to ensure that it meets the growing needs of the island, and that the learning environment and curricula are suitable and relevant for our time.
12. Build one very energy efficient government office building to accommodate most office-based government personnel including Ministers of Government. The energy efficiency gains, the savings from not having to pay rent, and not having to drive around from building to building for meetings using government vehicles, should result in overall savings for the Government.
13. Encourage the growing spirit of entrepreneurship among our youth by supporting and enabling them with training, guidance and seed money
14. Establish a modern multifaceted sporting complex and grounds to accommodate most, if not all, sports with proper supervision and management at all times – a YMCA concept.
15. Focus on agriculture using modern techniques such as what is used in places like Israel. We should then aim to become self-sufficient in most foods, and aspire to supply at least St. Maarten/St. Martin and the British Virgin Islands with food as they don’t have agricultural land.
All of the abovementioned initiatives will result in a strong, dynamic and well-diversified and sustainable economy that will deliver many jobs and good paying jobs for ALL Anguillians and residents of Anguilla. These initiatives would also dramatically increase the population and, by so doing, would result in reduced taxes for everyone as there would be more businesses and residents contributing to the recurring revenue and capital revenue needs of the island.
The DOVE Party uses this medium to share some of its plans for transforming the public and private sector in Anguilla. The members of the DOVE Party are tired of politics as usual and, to this end, we are appealing to you the citizens and belongers of Anguilla to give us your support by voting for the DOVE Party in the upcoming general election. The DOVE Party has embraced the vision of the Anguilla Revolution of 1967 and has committed to make sacrifices to deliver on the Anguilla dream to the benefit of ALL Anguillians. The DOVE Party would like to invite ALL politicians to come together with us for a few days to discuss a comprehensive way forward for Anguilla. If we can achieve this, then our campaign would be focused on how best to implement these plans. This way we would be raising the standard of our otherwise negative campaigning. To all of our fellow politicians, who have Anguilla at heart, can we get together and work out a plan for our beloved island Anguilla? Can we abandon the win-lose mode of politics and embrace a win-win paradigm and build Anguilla?
The DOVE Party awaits a reply from all politicians and will let you, the general public, know the reply.
May God bless us all and may bless Anguilla.
