With a sense of gladness and great anticipation, I wish to extend ardent congratulations to the members of the newly elected Government of Anguilla for its victory at the polls last month.
Now that all the political euphoria and the campaign dust have settled, and now that we have put away our criticisms and praises for the noteworthy debates that may have created some leverage for influencing our electoral decisions, the time has come for our newly elected government to govern — a new government that is poised to steer Anguilla through a maze of challenging times.
The Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) has sharply risen to power at a very critical period, not only in our nation’s history, but in the history of the world at large. It is indeed a challenging era. Governments all around the world are dealing with issues of social and economic consequences, primarily as a result of the global pandemic — it’s government “business unusual”.
It can be appreciated that the main matters which our new government would have to grapple with concern everything that is related to the harsh realities brought on by the COVID-19 dilemma. Tourism provides our bread ‘n butter, and over the past four months our tourism industry has virtually dried up — as a result of COVID-19 restrictions — similar to the physical drought which the island now experiences.
One of the key issues, critical amongst the new government’s concerns, would be the state of the Treasury left by the predecessor government. In recent times, our way of life has been affected by adverse conditions that have been directly related to changes in our tourism industry. I refrain here from elaborating on the potential UK budgetary supplementary aid of 100 million dollars. When it is received it would be a welcome injection for which we should be grateful.
In 2018, following the onslaught of Hurricane Irma which struck in the year prior, tourism figures had plummeted to an all time low. By 2019, however, our industry was blossoming once again and the way ahead was looking great. But then, the coronavirus struck, and our industry has been plunged in another gloomy hiatus.
With borders now closed since March, and with corresponding lockdowns in the US, which is the most prominent contributor to our tourism market, the state of our local economy is a rather grim one. What has exasperated our dilemma is the fact that a new wave of the virus is currently reaping havoc over many states in the U.S.A., and health forecasters predict that it will get worse before it gets better — due to defiant practices with little regard for social distancing or mask wearing.
So while we praise and congratulate the APM for being successful at the polls, and while the majority of us are elated over its victory, let us be mindful that the course of its administration, especially as a newly elected government, would not be an easy journey. It behooves all of us therefore, as “One Anguilla”, irrespective of our political persuasions or our party affiliations, to stand behind our government like never before.
Besides, as a Christian society, let us remember that we have a God-given mandate to respect and honour those who rule over us. As one people, let us all be cognizant of our responsibilities to put country above self while we put away our nitpicking, biased attitudes and criticisms that are counterproductive to the way of life which we expect our government to pave for us over the next five years. And while we look at our leaders and respect them as our governing body, let us also look to God who has been “our help in ages past and our hope for the years to come”.
We know not what the future holds. We cannot tell how long COVID-19 will linger as a dreaded global pandemic. Thus, we can never tell how long it will take before we bounce back to normalcy and begin to enjoy a 2019 kind of economy with a 2019 kind of lifestyle. We just don’t know. But let us hold up the hands of our APM government as it navigates the course for us over the treacherous seas of time. May God bless this noble government in this challenging era, and may God continue to bless Anguilla.
