The above phrase has long been the rallying cry for politicians and scientists alike, from the Kennedy Brothers to Naradev Sarno who, in November of 2013, addressed the world governments on carbon emission reduction plans. It would appear that if ever there was a time when we might use it, as our rallying cry, that time would be now. In a few weeks, or months, as the case may be, we will have an opportunity to make what I think is probably the most important decision that we’ll ever make, since that fateful day when we threw the Bradshaw Government off our island.
Anyone paying attention should know by now know what each person or party represents, though some candidates were more successful than others in presenting their program – others are yet to present one. It seems that they are banking on past performance in lieu of a platform, as their calling card, a risk that could ultimately backfire. However, that being said, I think that the burden rests on us, the voters, for if we don’t vote for the people who are equipped and capable of taking us forward, we will truly be looking at an Anguilla that will be in dire straits.
Just recently, I came across an article, that appeared in the Turks and Caicos newspaper, written by a potential investor in which he lays out the difficulties of having money to invest in a country where the government was so inept and corrupt, that he decided to take his investment elsewhere. Someone commenting after reading the article said that all one had to do was to remove TCI and in its place insert Anguilla and you’d hit the nail on the head. It was embarrassing to see someone making those assertions about us as a people, but you live and learn.
As a country, we have had many golden opportunities to hit the bricks running, as the saying goes, but for whatever reason, we chose to insert our own selfish needs above those of our country. We’ve reverted to backward thinking by electing the same inept ne’er do well politicians who seem to be more interested in what Anguilla can do for them rather than what they can do for Anguilla, as was evident in the exorbitant raise that they gave themselves. Who gets a 25% raise? Not only should the salaries of our elected officials be commensurate with the work that they actually do – there should be some formula that determines what they should be actually paid.
In that we’re a new country, just a bit over forty years old, we have yet to master the art of good governance, despite the fact that the British, after all these years, are now trying to get us to toe the line. Had they stayed around and actually made sure that we were fully qualified to assume the reins of ministerial government, they would not now have to send down edicts to us like wayward children in need of a good spanking. Not only were they derelict in their job as our mother country – they simply washed their hands of us and left us to fend for ourselves.
Like the Israelites, we’ve been out there for forty odd years now and it would appear that we’ve learned nothing. Some may say that we’ve gotten worse. The Mayor likes to say “if you don’t start right, you won’t finish right.” Words of wisdom that we might take time out to heed, for if one goes back to our history, you’ll find that we didn’t start right, but we do have the opportunity to rectify that going forward. But before any of that can take place we need to acknowledge from whence we came so that we know that going forward the opportunities abound. We tend to not teach our young people of their history. Marcus Garvey said: “A people without the knowledge of their history, is like a tree without roots.” Right now we are a tree without roots.
As a people, we were once united for the greater good that was Anguilla but, like the Israelites, once we became free of our Pharaoh we started to become greedy and rebellious among other vices. Of our behavior, the late Teacher Arthwin, writing in a piece called “Independence: Anguilla’s Ultimate Goal,” had this to say: “We are to rid ourselves of the envy, greed and corruption that exists in our society and become a people united under God.” A similar view was offered by Dr. O.M.Linda Banks writing in an article, for the Walter Hodge Memorial Anguilla Day Lecture series (2005) (since cancelled by the Hughes Administration), called “Impact of the ’67 Revolution on the Anguillian Psyche.” Dr. Banks contends that the revolution had changed the “attitudes of Anguillians from the good old days of jollification and Christian principles to the present times where we have developed such negative traits as being greedy, envious, abusive, materialistic, and lacking in Christian principles.”
Have we forgotten from whence we came? We’ve discarded those traits which made us unique and respected the world over. We have become the people we once despised. Who are we? Perhaps that question can be answered by a thorough investigation of our early history. Much light is shed on the topic by Mr. Colville Petty in his 1983 edition of “Where There is a Will, There is a Way.” A quick perusal of the latter chapters chronicles much of the infighting in the early days of the country when everyone was jockeying for positions of power. Some careers were made at the expense of others. This allowed for one chief opportunistic carpetbagger who had nothing to do with our struggles, one who opposed our every move for a better life, to sneak in the back door like a Trojan horse, a thief in the night, to highjack the government for his own personal self-aggrandizement. More on this later, but it became clear that in the early days of our nation, that those tasked with taking us forward faced many challenges. Retired Justice Don Mitchell CBE, QC, writing in one of his early accounts on Anguilla had this to say: “We were led by fishermen and sheepherders, men who meant well, but simply not equipped to manage the day to day affairs of a new and budding nation.”
Lurking in the background though, was one Mr. Hubert Hughes, who, up to this point had been contesting elections in Anguilla, with very little success. After being a staunch supporter of the Bradshaw regime, it was amazing to see Mr. Hughes participating in Anguillian politics given the fact that he opposed our movement every step of the way. Well, as it turns out, Mr. Hughes now finally ensconced in Anguillian politics, was not pleased with his position, saw an opening and brought a no confidence vote against the government, which eventually led to its downfall.
It would appear that Mr. Hughes had his very own agenda and now that he saw an opening for the chance to fulfill his long sought after ambitions, seized it. Mr. Hughes likes to brag about his coming back to Anguilla to, as he puts it, “make a difference.” Well he made a difference alright. Let me count the ways: Where shall I start? Let’s begin with the most recent. Calling the civil servants ungrateful, selling Viceroy without having a clear understanding of the sale and all it entailed, allowing the ECCB to come in and seize our indigenous banks, and further adding insult to injury by amending the banking bill, during a quorum-less session in the House of Assembly, in which ECCB was given unlimited powers from which they could act with immunity for any wrongdoing. The loss of the GE water desalination plant, our lowered CARI kriss credit rating, and who could forget the ‘piece de résistance,’ the aborted 200 million dollar loan collateralized by the Social Security Fund. Have you heard enough? Make a difference eh?
Anyone following the machinations in the House, could very easily draw their own conclusion. Mr. Hughes had his own reasons for tabling the no confidence vote against the government, given that he purports to have made a great sacrifice to leave England and return to Anguilla. Those familiar with the situation might very well tell you differently, that the no confidence vote was allegedly motivated by Mr. Hughes’ personal ambitions, a pattern that would surface time and time again over the next thirty years.
As I’ve said earlier, we have very short memories. We tend to forget very quickly. We need to remember from whence we came. We need to remember that Mr. Hughes supported Bradshaw when we were fighting to get rid of him. We need to remember that on Webster’s Park, in front of Mr. Webster, Hughes referred to Bradshaw as a great man. We need to remember that Mr. Hughes was allegedly never a friend of Anguilla – that he has constantly referred to us as “stupid and ungrateful.” We need to remember that Mr. Hughes will walk away from government a very wealthy man while denigrating those of us who valiantly fought to get away from those whom he supported.
So where do we go from here? In this era of globalization, where do we as a small nation fit in? What do we do? Do we have the leaders with the je ne sais quoi, that exemplary quality going forward? Do we have those people in place that can sit at the negotiating table and know that we’re just as smart as they are? (The sale of Viceroy comes to mind.) Are we positioned for the reset to repeat the next 50 years? Sir Winston Churchill once said: “A people ignorant of their history are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past.” Is this the context in which we’re to move forward? Can we afford to trust our future to players not versed in the rules of the game? My brothers and sisters, the days of electing candidates with half a grammar school education are long gone This election, let us go to the polls and vote with our brains, not our hearts. Let us vote for the person who has the intellectual background, the wherewithal, the intestinal fortitude, the humility and the backbone to speak truth. When you vote make sure that it’s a choice you can live with. Anguillians, we’ve fought long and hard to get to this point. We cannot wait for another forty years. Ask yourselves the question: Are you better off now than you were five years ago?” Our time is now – for “If not us, then who, and if not now, when?”
This election day, let’s make a difference. Let us make our forefathers proud. Let us make our dearly departed forefathers know that they didn’t fight in vain: Atlin, Walter, John, Collins, Peter, Jeremiah, Beavan, Kenneth; and to those who are still with us, Ronald, Bob Rogers, the women – let us build a “New Anguilla Now,” one that will include not just some of the people, but all of the people. Let’s not be fooled by last minute band aid remedies being passed in the House. So until next time, may God continue to bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
