As Leader of the Opposition, I plan to write a short piece each week to communicate with all Anguillians my view of the future for Anguilla. I have decided to do so as an antidote to what I regard as one of the greatest failings in the governance of Anguilla – the failure of government to involve the people.
Stripped of its political context, Anguilla is a harmonious nation, and people work together. Nothing could have illustrated this characteristic better than the efforts all of our people, and especially our young people, put into the cleanup effort following Hurricane Irma.
It is all the more wonder, therefore, that we have a government that does not merely fail to collaborate with all shades of opinion, but that even fails to consult on crucial issues with me, the one elected member who represents the vast numbers of Anguillians who do not share their policies or priorities.
We have just been through a period of unprecedented trauma and vastly devastating and expensive damage as a result of the hurricane, and we are not out of the woods yet although we are showing great resilience. The inescapable conclusion from such an event is that it will have hit government’s financial planning like a sledgehammer. Not only has it turned off or severely curtailed numerous sources of government revenue, and destroyed or interrupted employment opportunities, but it will also have necessitated huge expenditure to put Anguilla back together again. While we rejoice and are deeply grateful for the external aid that Anguilla has been granted, by Britain and others, the impact on Anguilla’s finances will have been huge. The fact that government is not consulting with us on these issues is, in my view, as much a disgrace – and a betrayal of the interests of the people of Anguilla – as the fact that neither did they consult with us over the financial consequences of the banking crisis.
Meanwhile work has progressed in many areas, which there will not be space this week to cover but which you can expect me to cover in future articles. These include:
• The work of the Public Accounts Committee, which I chair ex-officio as Leader of the Opposition and which is the first functioning Public Accounts Committee to have been mobilized under our 1982 constitution. It was formed in 2015 more than thirty years after it should have been convened.
• The draft legislation I introduced in the Assembly in 2015, but which the government have chosen to ignore, including:
o The Family Law (Guardianship) Bill
o The Sexual Harassment Bill
o The Status of Children Bill
• The governance of Anguilla since Hurricane Irma and the failures in engaging with the public and letting the people know what to expect.
• The progress – or lack of it – towards a properly achievable and sustainable National Development Plan.
• Health care.
• The Physical Planning Bill, which remains un-enacted despite having been introduced in 2001. The lack of effective planning legislation is a serious threat to the protection of the environment.
• The consequences of climate change for the environment and our way of life.
• Constitutional and electoral reform.
• The development and strengthening of our institutions.
• The Financial Services industry.
• The Fishing Industry.
• The Farming industry.
• Human resources development and the education and development of our people.
• Future growth and development, including:
o fitting Anguilla for the regulatory and technological framework in which all financial transactions are conducted, and
o developing Anguilla’s infrastructure to ensure logistics and connectivity.are conducive to commercial movements and trade.
• The maximization of opportunities for gain from an OECS economic union.
• Engaging with the British and the opportunities they offer us.
I make no commitment as to the order in which I shall deal with these issues. Other issues may take priority and I shall welcome feedback suggestions for other issues. In line with my wish for all Anguillians to be involved for the benefit of the country and ALL of the people – not just the insiders – I invite criticism, suggestions and support. Please feel free to post on https://www.facebook.com/PalmavonWebster .
It is my earnest objective that we shall find a way to raise the level of community and political debate with a view to developing an entirely new political movement and a form of consensus government in Anguilla that will “make Anguilla roar again”!
