The Honourable Premier Dr. Ellis L Webster and the ruling Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) cabinet were lauded for the work they have been doing since taking office in July of 2020.
During a surprise 60th birthday celebration for Premier Webster on Saturday 25th March 2023 at the Royal Caribbean Hotel, persons commended Dr. Webster and the APM.
Among those paying tribute was local business man, Mr. Quincy Gumbs.
He said that the current government has been doing so much good for the country that it would soon “run out of things” to be done before the end of its tenure in 2025.
In speaking directly to the Premier, Mr. Gumbs touted almost in a campaign style mode that: “Though you had faced opposition from within and without your party, you and your ministers have put Anguilla first, and you have kept her so for over the past two-and-a-half years.”
“Thanks to your visionary leadership, today we have the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal, owned by the people of Anguilla, free and clear,” Mr. Gumbs said. “We have The Valley main road, owned by Anguilla, free and clear; today we have the ongoing development of the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport which will not be a millstone around the necks of our future generations.”
He said that the administration had lived up to the mandate of its manifesto after taking office.
“You have removed the scourge of darkness that covered public policy in the past by keeping public consultations on almost every subject of importance in this country,” Mr. Gumbs declared.
“Your government has been the only government since 1984, to open your manifesto after Election Day,” he said. “You followed the script with laser beam precision, so much so, that the public is saying that if you continue down this road, you will run out of things to do before the end of your five years, and you won’t have anything to do in your next term [in office].”
Mr. Gumbs then turned his attention to those who might have been disappointed in the administration’s policies, and noted that such acts of urgency had to do with the ‘changes that could not wait’.
“Honourable Sir, you may have disappointed those in our party who wanted to behave like the other government,” he said, “but to those of us for whom ‘change could not wait’, and a growing number of new converts from the other side, you were absolutely true to the trust, responsibility and pledge that you had undertaken for the people of Anguilla.”
“So, tonight,” observed Mr. Gumbs, “we, without shame, celebrate the success of the first real visionary policy-driven, compassionate government in the history of Anguilla.”
Guest speaker at the celebrative event, the Honourable Minister of Education, Human Resource Development, Religious Affairs and Information in Grenada, Emmalin Pierre, reflected on the reasoning behind the people of Anguilla electing the APM into office. She applauded Dr. Webster for the influence that his administration has particularly had on the youth of Anguilla.
“You, the people of Anguilla, re-imagined Anguilla to be economically resilient, socially inclusive, and fiscally responsible,” the Honourable Minister said. “With this in mind, on the 29th of June, 2020, the people of Anguilla confirmed their desire for change, and elected the Anguilla Progressive Movement to govern the affairs of this country.”
“The desired change was not just for those who had voted several times before, but for those first-time voters who had a dream too. Young men, like Casey Reid, did not just casually support the APM, but they did so with passion. He and his peers brought energy that captured the hearts of the candidates who were convinced that change could not wait. The young people of this country saw this Government as that wind of ‘change that could not wait’,” the Grenadian Minister said.
