For many years, the phrase “partnership for progress and prosperity” has been promoted as the relationship desired between the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories. Many of us have questioned whether this has ever progressed from mere words to meaningful action. In recent years, however, we have witnessed the building of a relationship between the United Kingdom and Anguilla that has lent some credibility to the phrase ‘partnership for progress and prosperity’, in the context of the relationship between the United Kingdom Government (UKG) and the Government of Anguilla (GoA).
Hurricane Irma ravaged Anguilla, in September 2017. The island suffered significant and widespread damage to its private and public infrastructure. The damage was so extensive that the fainthearted among us declared that Anguilla was finished. In the face of adversity some of us temporarily forgot the resilient and persevering nature of Anguillians. Anguilla was not finished. The GoA and the UKG partnered to devise a grant package of £60,000,000.00for Anguilla, to finance the rebuilding of certain key pieces of infrastructure. This allowed the GoA officials to focus on rebuilding Anguilla’s Tourism Industry. The fruits of the Government’s efforts were realised in 2019 when Anguilla experienced its highest ever tourist arrivals to the island. Some 95,375 tourists were recorded as having visited Anguilla in 2019 as compared to 79,239 in 2016, which was previously the highest recorded number of tourist arrivals to Anguilla. Advance bookings suggested that 2020 was also expected to see significant tourist arrivals. Despite the ravages caused by Hurricane Irma, Anguilla was on its way back.
2020 had barely begun when the Covid-19 pandemic, caused Anguilla to close its borders to secure the health of its people. Decisions had to be made and the GoA determined that safeguarding the health of Anguillians and residents of Anguilla was paramount. The closure of our borders negatively impacted our individual finances and Anguilla’s economy in general. Anguilla was again facing another major setback. The UKG accepted that the GoA Budget, which had been prepared and presented before Covid-19 considerations were necessary, would,but for Covid-19, have been sound. The 2020 Budget was approved, as presented, with the agreement that any shortfalls in the Budget, as a result of Covid-19, would be met by the UKG, up to an amount of EC$100,000,000.00. The UKG agreed to partner with the GoA to make its budget whole. Of course, such agreement came with conditions. It seems, however, that none of the conditions are onerous and appear to be a rehashing of commitments that had been previously agreed by the GoA. The potential impact on Anguilla’s economy and GoA’s finances, resulting from the closure of our borders, have been greatly alleviated by the UKG’s commitment to providing Anguilla with budgetary support.
Have we seen ‘partnership for progress and prosperity’ in action in recent years? An objective assessment of relations between Chief Minister / Premier Banks and Governor Foy OBE over the past three years would demand that we respond in the affirmative. Governor Foy has regularly been commended for his role in this partnership. Regrettably, some of us have been slow to recognise the role Chief Minister/ Premier Banks would have played to ensure the realisation of the grant of £60,000,000.00, following Hurricane Irma and the most recent commitment by the UKG to offer Anguilla budgetary support of up to EC$100,000,000.00 for 2020.
One can conclude that the electorate knew what to expect of Mr. Banks when they chose to elect him to office in April 2015. He is well known for his calm and deliberate response to situations, after engaging in evidence based research. He is known for not publicising disagreements with GoA colleagues or UKG officials, but rather working to resolve such issues in a manner that allows for all parties to maintain their dignity, while delivering what is best for Anguilla and its people. Mr. Banks was a known entity, while Governor Foy was not.
In a previous editorial (26thAugust, 2017) I noted that Governor Foy had pledged to listen, to understand and to work in partnership with Chief Minister Banks and his colleagues. Governor Foy in his response at his swearing-in ceremony on Monday 21st August, 2017 observed that he expected to be judged on his actions rather than his rhetoric. In his remarks at his welcome reception, Governor Foy, in expressing how he hoped his time with us would be viewed, quoted Oscar Wilde who said – “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
Most of us will agree that Governor Foy, working in partnership with Chief Minister / Premier Banks and his team, has generallycaused happiness in Anguilla. Governor Foy is scheduled to leave Anguilla towards the end of this year and we will enter the realm of the unknown once again, with respect to our knowledge of what to expect of our Governor.
By the time of the next publication of the Anguillian we expect that we will know who will form our next Government. Will we already be aware of the attitude to governance of the persons forming the government or will we have to wait and see? Whatever the outcome of the recruitment process for anew Governor, or Anguilla’s General Election,we hope to see the recent evidence of a meaningful partnership for Anguilla’s progress and prosperity reflected in the relationship between the incoming Governor and the elected Premier and his or her team. Anguillians deserve to know, that in the face of adversity the GoA and the UKG will partner to ensure that Anguilla formulates and executes an appropriate response.
