The political debates, organised by the Anguilla National Youth Council, continued on Tuesday evening, June 16, with Premier Victor Banks of the Anguilla United Front and Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers of the – Anguilla Progressive Movement – both contenders in District 4 for the imminent 2020 general election.
The debate, witnessed by a massive and enthusiastic crowd, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, covered various topics relating to the sustainable development of Anguilla in particular. Although the subject areas were intended to hear the candidates’ views in relation to the general interest of the island, one question was slipped in at The Valley South (District 4) level.
That question was:”Can you list some of the issues within your district and elaborate on how you intend to address them? “ Premier Banks was the first to respond as follows:
“In addition to the social issues that are part of the overall process of development, we have the fact that in District 4 we have a lot of negative projects that can create negative impacts on the community. We have ANGLEC, the Airport, radio antennas, the dump site and fuel depot. So in our district we have a lot of things that people don’t want in their backyard.
“How will you address these issues? First of all, the dumpsite in particular: We must continue to put in place a land waste management system that corrects some of the ill effects that come from the dumpsite – and they are several. They come as a result of fly infestation; effluence from burning – and a whole range of things, so this is something that is critical to be fixed.
“’Then we have the fuel depot. We have to put in place a proper system of disposing of fuel in that district. One of these days we can have a serious calamity in that area, so that is where we have to put a proper bulk station in place. That is something, going forward, the Anguilla United Front hopes to address.
“The airport expansion is also a critical project, and it is important we make sure that that facility is in place in a manner in which it does not impact the surrounding areas – and that it serves to ensure we have access to the outside world.
“[In terms of ANGLEC], we have to move towards renewable sources of energy so that we can have less reliance on fossil fuels, the effluence from which can sometimes cause challenges to the community as well.”
The same question, “Can you list some of the issues within your district and elaborate on how you intend to address them?” was directed to Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers. She replied as follows:
“There are a number of issues that exist in District 4 in addition to the ones that my opponent mentioned. But the ones I want to talk about are in relation to our people – the people of District 4. One issue we have is the problem with our existing athletic structures.They have been in disrepair for a long period of time. When you walk around the district and talk to young people they tell you that they want an athletic centre; a basketball court; and they want the support to have these facilities in Anguilla which they are not getting – and which they are getting injuries from instead of engaging in activities that help them. What I intend to do is to retrofit our existing athletic structures so that they are safer for use by our young people, so that they don’t walk away with injuries that impact them for a lifetime.
‘Secondly, District 4 has probably one of the richest musical talents in the entire island. When I did some research, especially with the bands in our district, they told me that it takes about 20-40 thousand US dollars for them to entertain Anguillians for carnival; and they get about 25 thousand EC dollars for a parade when the truck itself costs 15 thousand US dollars – and after they pay off this debt, they have to start all over. We complain in Anguilla about late music but our bands are not being supported while they shoulder the burden of putting on carnival events for us. None of them can do music as a full-time career.
“What I propose is that we take the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre and turn it into a multi-purpose centre that we can rent out at a really, really low rate to our bands so that they can make money from admissions – and they can capitalise on that and move forward. In the long term, I want to move forward to the proper zoning of District 4 as a commercial, cultural and historic centre so that we can have proper foot traffic in The Valley and a proper civic centre where our tourists can come to”
In his rebuttal, Premier Banks stated: “I think that Ms. Kentish- Rogers responded to one issue in the district that I can agree witH, and support, and that is the creation of an athletic structure in the area. But the other issue that she raised about bands and so, that is general around the island. I did not want to raise issues that were widespread in the island. At the end of the day the key issues for me would be issues that affect District 4; – and those issues for me are the fact that we have a dumpsite there which is a dangerous issue for the community. It needs to be dealt with and successive governments have tried to work with it. We have to focus a lot of attention [on it], because we have a growing population to make that a viable landfill site. Whatever technology is important to make that not as impactful on the community as it is right now in a negative way. And the fuel depot, that is also important.”
Ms. Kentish-Rogers rebutted as follows: “We are talking about issues in the district and a part of the district are the people who exist in that district – so we can’t ignore the district all the time. It is not always about pretty structures. When I talk about the music talent it goes for itself because District 4 is the home of many bands in Anguilla. When we look at things like the athletic structures, that have been a promise in my opponent’s manifestos, from election to election, and the problem is that there has been no change; and the young people in the district are tired of hearing promises from politicians that they don’t intend to keep. If you can’t keep a promise, don’t make it.
“When we move in a place in District 4, like Rey Hill..my team and I have just retrofitted the court with solar lights and this [the basketball court] is something that has been put in place by a previous minister. We need to think very carefully about what our politicians say and what they do. That’s why we say “Change can’t wait”.
