“Brute force is out of date –Why send out murderers, when you can employ bailiffs?”(Berthold Brecht).
Given what has been allowed to happen to our banks and the expected fallout, I find it extraordinary that we, as a wronged people, are still not asking the right questions. It is oft said that knowledge is power and if you take away that knowledge you take away the power. Our problem, as far as I can surmise, is that though we are a highly educated people, we are insulated (shipwrecked) and, consequently, that’s where the disconnect comes in.
What is really happening is an attempt by a Central Bank to strip Anguilla of its assets. Anguillians borrowed money from Anguillian banks using as collateral Anguillian owned land. The crash of 2008 affected Anguilla more so than it did the rest of the world for, as the rest of the world went, so too did Anguilla. This resulted in an economy that also crashed, the result of which was no jobs, and therefore the people were unable to pay their bills. Over fifty percent of the loans became non-performing and nothing was ever done to remedy the situation.
One has to go back to that fateful day when the ECCB came into Anguilla like thieves in the night. A review of the then Chairman of the Monetary Council, Dr. Denzil Douglas, clearly stated that they came in to stabilize, restructure both banks, NBA and CCB, and return them to a state of normalcy, to protect depositors and creditors and to ensure the stability of the banking system in Anguilla and, by extension, the entire currency union. At the same press conference, Kenny Anthony, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, chided the Anguillians for their reluctance to become a full fledged member of the ECCU, which now in hindsight was a harbinger of things to come.
Well it was never a secret that the former Governor of the Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, allegedly had issues with the banks and their upper management. It was also no secret that he allegedly wanted the two banks amalgamated. So they came in under the guise that Anguilla’s economy had contracted from 15.8 % to 5.5 % from 2005 to 2007, but offered no plan for fixing the banks. They allowed the banks to languish for almost three years, and then allegedly conned our illiterate government into passing a Banking Act again under the guise that it met international standards, because all of the other islands in the monetary union had already signed off on it.
Central to this Banking Act is an amendment that established an Asset Management Company based in Antigua. These are the guys who are going to determine what happens to our assets. None of this makes any sense. This is a way of stripping Anguillians of their assets – land, once and for all. Here’s what happens. Let’s say one million dollars is owed on a property and it sells for two million, that extra million goes to the borrower right? Wrong! The extra million is evenly divided by eight, why eight you ask? That’s how many countries make up the ECCU. So it is Anguillian land that was used as collateral to borrow money from Anguillian founded banks, but now we get only 12.5% of the proceeds.
It’s our land and we get to share it with seven other countries who have contributed nothing to our well being. And this is what our brilliant government agreed to. Can you believe this? This is what our allegedly governor assented to. Can someone please ask Mr. Banks, what exactly is the plan? Is he comfortable with what’s going on? Mr. Richardson, you seem to be the only one who claims to have a conscience when it comes to the people of Anguilla. Will you assume the role once and for all as our Oliver Cromwell? Will you stand up for us?
This government has operated in secret from the outset. We gave Victor the benefit of the doubt, but he has violated our trust. It can never be regained. Not only did he violate our trust – he has put us on a path to destruction. He has destroyed that which we fought for, is taxing us to death, and expects us to pay up. I’m reminded of the fable of the woman who finds a snake near death. She picks it up, takes it home and nurses it back to health. Once at full strength, the snake bites her. Stunned, she asks the snake: “Why did you bit me?” With a smirk on its face, the snake replied: “Lady you knew I was a snake.” We have to exercise extreme caution as we traverse some very dangerous terrain.
We cannot allow some of the ECCU leaders to use Anguilla as a sacrificial lamb. That is not what my father Walter Hodge and the rest of the stalwarts fought for. None of the other members of the ECCU gave a damn about us, but now they’re more than happy to benefit from our misfortune. Tell me, how is it that this was an Anguillian problem, to which not one of them offered any help, but now they are more than happy to use our land to prop up a weak Easter Caribbean dollar, and in the process fortify a useless Central Bank?
Peter Binose sounded the alarm a while back when he said that the dollar was in trouble. He attributed the possibility of devaluation to too much debt, financial imbalances, high energy prices, fiscal ignorance and fiscal duncemanship of the region’s Prime Ministers. We use the U.S dollar and we provide 65% of the U.S currency in the region, so why do we even care about the EC dollar? They are using us to replenish their empty treasuries.
Just think 12.5% of over a thousand properties. Quite a haul wouldn’t you say?
We in Anguilla are the causes of our own distress for it is nothing more than false pride that has got us to this place. Our current Minister of Finance had the opportunity to exit the ECCU for they’ve not really done anything for us. We don’t need Gonsalves and company to tell us what to do. The Federation died back in 1962 and has since tried to resurrect itself in the form of the OECS. We don’t need these people. Let’s get out. We are being used. If past performance is any kind of indicator, Mr. Banks cannot be trusted with Anguilla’s sovereignty.
When Mr. Banks assumed the Chairmanship of the Monetary Council he had an opportunity to politely decline and in so doing remove us from the union but, as they say, pride is a strange thing. It would have taken a real man with large balls to stand up to the ECCU and graciously decline – and give his reasons for doing so. Had he done that, he would have had everyone eating out of his hand. He didn’t, and so here we are.
The CM continues to govern like the elected dictator that he has become. A perfect example of this occurred in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, May 30th, when the lone Opposition Member, Ms. Webster, let it be known the previous Saturday, at a rally, that she planned to introduce a ‘Motion of No Confidence’ (MONC) against the government. Instead of personally contacting the leader of the opposition to advise of a change, as the well established practice required him to do, he insisted on the order of business that would ensure that the no confidence motion would not progress or was put off. Shades of Dr. Denzil Douglas’ playbook in St. Kitts.
The CM, in his usual dictatorial style, let it be known that he had urgent business to attend to and he didn’t have time to listen to any foolishness, and that she could talk if she wanted to – and with that he walked out of the House without so much as an apology of any kind. The urgent business that he had to attend to was nothing more than a celebration of Anguilla Day in New York, at the Waldorf Astoria, while the people of Anguilla are struggling.
An editorial in last week’s edition of this paper entitled: “A motion of no confidence,” in which the editor openly questioned the validity of such a vote and labeled it as a ‘waste of time’ and, as some suggested, an exercise in futility. As I read on, I waited for the editor to make his case as to why it was a waste of time. He then suggested that Ms. Webster being the lone opposition member stood little if any chance of bringing down Victor’s government. He did, however, point out that Ms. Webster’s action, as was suggested by Rodney Brazier in Constitutional Practices, was a call for the government to defend itself, explain policies and justify its actions.
And while the editorial thought the motion to be a waste of time, and agreed with the public that it was an exercise in futility, he might have also criticized the Chief Minister and the Speaker for the shoddy way in which they have treated the Honorable Opposition Member, not just on this particular day but throughout.
Just think, had our forefathers thought their actions to be an exercise in futility in ’67, where would we be now? Had David listened to the soldiers in his own camp, who openly mocked him when he volunteered to fight Goliath, the Philistine, where would the Israelites be now?
True, the likelihood of Victor’s government being brought down is farfetched, but, as the editorial astutely points out, there is a precedent. Think back to Hubert Hughes with Ronald Webster. And, who knows – maybe there’s someone who wants to take a stand. We have to believe. The Bible says “Oh ye of little faith.” Remember we are still considered to be a democracy and all that that entails.
One seems to forget that the legitimacy of a liberal democracy is determined by the existence of a constitution and adherence to it. Tony Benn, the British Labor politician, suggested that we should constantly ask those who govern us five questions: What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you? (Varoufakis). With that being said, our government has to tell us what the grand scheme of things entail, or suffer the consequences.
Right now we may think that we are isolated – and that is where we are making a big mistake. We have given Victor free rein to do as he pleases. The Banking Act is now law and it will take a collective effort if we the people are to see that no more damage is being done. So to this government: you have failed us, you have denigrated us as a people, the very same ones for whom you took an oath to protect and serve. So once more here it is. Tony Benn, the British politician, said to ask those who govern us: What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? How can we get rid of you?
Perhaps the answer can be found in the actions of Oliver Cromwell. Over 400 years ago, the British Parliament attempted to govern after its term had expired. It was kicked out by Oliver Cromwell. He told them: “You have sat for too long for any good you have done lately.” He told them as we are telling you, Victor, and your cabinet once again: “Depart I say and let us have done with you. In the name of God …Go!” Or to use the words of a fellow West Indian, the Mighty Sparrow: “Take your Georgie Bundle and leave and go, don’t come back no more.”
Whether or not you’ll heed the words of Oliver Cromwell, or the Mighty Sparrow, the fact remains that in the words of British politician Tony Benn: “What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it?
We are under attack and we have to forget about this party nonsense and operate under the term Anguillian, or we stand to perish. So while brute force may be outdated, we will see the bailiffs. We will know what to do when the time comes. Till then, may God bless us all and may He continue to bless Anguilla.
