Prior to Anguilla’s bid for secession from the then Associate State of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, our island was called “a backwater of the Caribbean”. It was generally a grossly neglected and undeveloped part of the former British colony and Associate State.
The May 1967 Revolution was basically to change that embarrassing perception of Anguilla, then a double colony both of St. Kitts and Britain. The Central Government in Basseterre was always accused of keeping back aid from Britain, allocated to Anguilla, and using it for the development of St. Kitts. Take for instance, a pier which should have been constructed in Anguilla, but was built in Sandy Point, St. Kitts, and strangely enough was called “the Anguilla Pier”. For years Anguillians had to endure insults from the leadership in St. Kitts – and the then Chief Minister/Premier, Robert Bradshaw, allegedly threatened to turn the island into a desert and, as the current revolutionary play portrays, he also threatened “to put pepper in the soup” of the people of Anguilla.
Aside from its unpopular political and constitutional union with St. Kitts, a primary reason for the Anguilla revolution was the abject neglect and enslavement the Anguillians were forced to endure. Since winning their freedom, the people of the island, and their leaders, were able to work towards the development of Anguilla and there have been great strides in our way forward.
These strides include electricity, water, roads, ports, modern telecommunications in all forms, health and education facilities and services and other public sector projects; tourism development from Lloyd’s Guest House to world-class properties lining the coastline; shopping centres, modern telecommunication services and other businesses, both local and foreign-owned, as well as vast improvements in housing. We have paved roads throughout Anguilla compared with dirt roads in 1967.
Various aspects of 50 years of progress in Anguilla are represented by some of the images displayed below.
