The Anguilla United Front’s candidate for District 2, Mrs Cora Richardson-Hodge, spoke about leadership at a public meeting at The Farrington on Saturday, January 24. Following is the main text of her address:
Fellow Anguillians, wherever you are, stop for a moment, and think about the last four years and what you, your family have been through. Think about how difficult it has been for you to live, feed your family, take care of your bills, shop or even travel over the past few years and ask yourself, ask yourself, would your circumstances, our circumstances be different if we had had right leaders leading our country forward?
You see, because there are some countries in the world where the first thing that their Chief Minister does as soon as elected to office is to brand their country as a FAILED STATE. There are some countries in the world where their elected representatives claim that the civil servants who they work with are preventing them from functioning And there are some countries in the world where the leaders in that country increase and decrease taxes such as import duties on vehicles to benefit themselves and their families. And there are some countries that have leaders that seek to change laws just before elections so that they can benefit, whether they are re-elected or not.
And so that is why, here in Anguilla, we need to elect leaders that can take us forward. We need leaders that can negotiate on all levels with the British and FCO, with investors and developers and on the wider stage in order to make sure that our Anguillians benefit from the best possible outcome of those negotiations. We in Anguilla need a team of capable energetic, and experienced people to take our country forward over the next few years. We need Team Anguilla United Front!
Now over the past few weeks you would have heard me talk about some of the plans of the Anguilla United Front once elected in 2015. You have heard me talk about one of the most critical issues affecting us today – jobs – and how we, the Anguilla United Front intend to use a two prong approach to addressing the issue of jobs – though public sector infrastructure programme and a private sector programme. You heard me speak about stimulating the construction sector through a programme of government projects including the building the campus for the Anguilla Community College, constructing the Valley Indoor Community Centre, upgrading our hospital and clinics and redeveloping and modernizing our public schools, just to name a few.
In the private sector, you have heard me speak about working along with the St. James Medical School so that its student body (as well as their teachers) increase in numbers so that the school can provide an even greater benefit to Anguilla. And I have spoken about finding ways to revitalize our tourism projects, including mega yacht and sailing yacht marinas and touristic board walks in Anguilla as well as other avenues in the private sector where we can jump start the economy.
Our beautiful, precious island, needs economic growth in order for us to continue to sustain ourselves. How do we achieve this? We will achieve this by stabilizing and strengthening the six leading sectors in our economy which are:
1- Tourism
2- Financial Services
3- Real estate, renting (such as rental properties) and business activity
4- Transport, storage and communications,
5- Construction and
6- Public Administration, Defense and Social Security
We, the members of the Anguilla United Front, are also focusing on developing these additional sectors in order to strengthen these as well:
(a) Fishing – with 200 nautical miles belonging to Anguilla, we need to be able to fully utilize what we own and make fishing a thriving industry.
(b) Agriculture
(c) Manufacturing and processing
(d) Technology and engineering
(e) International education and global business services
(f) Energy production
(g) Water production – as we all know, the previous AUF Administration was able to address many of the issues relating to supplying water to residents of Anguilla as a result of their arrangement with GE. Under this AUM Administration, we have stepped back 10 years. A new AUF administration will once again move us forward and ensure that all of our people have adequate water supply!
(h) Developing our cultural industries such as music, fine arts, theatre arts and museums and assisting our people in achieving their goals in this regard.
(i) Sports and recreation – We hear so much about our athletes that have been able to overcome limitations here in Anguilla and nevertheless become recognized throughout the world. We the members of the Anguilla United Front are committed to ensuring that we invest in sports and recreational facilities not only for our athletes but for all of our people as a whole. Every one of us needs to exercise, no matter our age.
Fellow Anguillians, I have just given you an overview of the plan of the Anguilla United Front to ensure that Anguilla can once again become and island of prosperity. Where once again we can become a place where all Anguillians are employed, not just a select few. We need a government that truly appreciates that its role is to provide leadership in creating economic activity in the country. That is why the leaders that we chose for the next five (5) years are so critical.
We as Anguillians want improved health care, for ourselves and our families. We would love to have fully equipped and quality health services provided to us, right here in our own island. We need a Government that understands that the health of our nation is a number 1 priority. We need leaders that will build up and not tear down the advances that have been made so far.
We want our leaders to address the social issues facing our young men and women today. From drugs and gang violence, and respecting oneself as young men and women, to developing our young people to be the next generation of leaders in Anguilla. Our leaders must understand that investing in our young people and finding ways to keep them out of jail, off the streets and away from drugs is one of its primary roles.
We Anguillians want to be able to ensure that our children receive a sound education. This means investing in our education system, investing in our schools, our teachers and advanced learning tools (such as computers) for our children. We want improved school facilities for our children who spend more time at school during the day than at home. We want the opportunity for our children to further educated in any field of their choice – electrical, plumbing, construction, medicine, law, architecture, carpentry and computers, to name a few. We need to further develop vocational skills in our country so that none of our young people need fall through the cracks. We need leaders that understand and appreciate the importance of education. Anguilla is on the world stage and our people need to have the skills necessary to survive. This is the Anguilla United Front’s vision for Anguilla.
Fellow Anguillians, the leaders that you need, that we need are standing right here with you tonight! We are the members of the Anguilla United Front, and we stand ready and willing to serve you.
