The Honourable Premier of Anguilla, Dr. Ellis Webster, and his delegation, were given an opportunity to have a wide scope of discussions during the virtual Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) meeting in London this week. The meeting was for all the leaders of the British Overseas Territories and their delegations to meet with UK Government Ministers.
In Anguilla, Premier Webster was accompanied at his office by the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Natural Resources and Tourism, Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Kathleen Rogers. In London, the Anguilla Government was represented by Ms. Dorothea Hodge, its newly-appointed FCOD/EU Representative, who arranged the discussions, and her assistant, Nina Simmonds.
Premier Ellis Webster & PS Finance, Mrs Kathleen Rogers
Premier Webster spoke to The Anguillian newspaper about the various matters the Anguilla Government planned to discuss. “I look forward to the Joint Ministerial Council because it is important that we have discussions with the UK Government, the administering power,” he stated. “They have helped us in many ways dealing with the impact of Covid-19. Prior to that, they assisted us with the impact of Hurricane Irma – and so we are continuing to work with them, in a collaborative manner, to make sure that Anguilla and its people continue to make it through these unsettling and uncertain times.”
Asked specifically what are some of the current matters his Government would be discussing, he replied: “We still have to discuss Covid-19 and the impact it has had on us and the economy. We now have an imported case and we have to be cognisant of the required testing, isolation and contact tracing.
“The other matters we have to discuss with the UK Government include financial assistance in 2021 because our tourism industry, even though we have opened up, it is not going to be back to where it was in 2019 or even early in 2020. This is therefore something we have to discuss in terms of budgetary support. We also want to talk about capital investments as it is necessary to have capital expenditure going forward; border security because, even though we have had the phased reopening, we still have to be concerned about persons trying to get into Anguilla illegally; and so we have to make sure that we have funding for monitoring the borders especially on the south side of Anguilla.
“Constitutional reform is coming up. This was started last year and, as soon as we get past this initial impact of Covid-19, the UK negotiating team will be back on the island. Constitutional reform is something that will be coming up at the session today [Monday, November 23rd]. Tuesday [November 24th] will be economic resilience, and this is where we want to make sure that we have our intervention because Anguilla needs to have assistance from the United Kingdom Government to help us – and we have committed to financial responsibility. We feel that it is necessary to assure the United Kingdom Government, the Treasury there, and the British taxpayers, that we will be prudent with the funding we receive to make sure that it is utilised in the best interest of the Anguillian people. We will also thank them for the assistance they have given us up to this point.
“The budget is coming up, and that is right now foremost in our minds to make certain that we meet the financial gap that we have. This is because no matter what we do, as long as we want to provide services for the people, there is going to be a financial gap – and we have to find money to fill that. It will require us to get a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank for which we will need approval from the United Kingdom Government – as we have surpassed our borrowing capacity right now.”
Premier Webster went on to mention other matters on the agenda to discuss with the UK Government later in the week. “We have 200 miles of ocean which we have to discuss how to utilise and protect it,” he explained. “There is also the International Maritime Organisation which has certain rules in terms of Anguilla doing ship registry for the United Kingdom relating to monitoring; and we also have our marine parks for discussion.”
Dr. Webster was asked to comment on Anguilla’s relationship with the neighbouring territories of St. Martin/St. Maarten in terms of the Brexit agreement between the UK and the European Union. “This is coming up at the beginning of next year and it is something I have raised at the pre JMC meetings,” he replied. “We will raise again our relationship between neighbouring St. Martin/St. Maarten which are part of the European Union, and whether there will be any restrictions from us being able to travel back and forth like we do now. We have been assured by the Governor’s Office here in Anguilla that there won’t be an issue, but we certainly want to hear that from the UK Ministers this week. We also want to discuss the European Union’s Development funding for Anguilla. We want to make sure, once we move out of the European Union, that this funding will be replaced by the United Kingdom Government. They have not committed to that as yet, but it is something that we are continuing to push for because we feel that the money was very helpful in budgetary support and capital development projects.”
Noting the wide scope of the agenda items of the Anguilla delegation, plus the many matters to be put forward by the other Overseas Territories, Premier Webster was asked how he and his delegation would have the time to discuss their full agenda. He responded: “Our UK/EU representative, Dorothea Hodge, has lobbied for us to have the time to make these interventions; and so, on the agenda, there are these specific topics on which I will have the time to make my presentations. Following the JMC meeting, I will continue talks with the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office and the Minister, Baroness Sugg, to make these points.”
He added: “The Anguilla delegation includes me, as Premier; Quincia Gumbs-Marie, the Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for Tourism, Natural Resources and Information Technology; and Kathleen Rogers, Permanent Secretary for Finance. In England, we will have our UK/EU representative, Dorothea Hodge, and her assistant, Nina Simmonds, joining us.”
