When Martin Luther King led the 1963 march on Washington D.C., he described “a fierce urgency of now,” [as] he reminded a divided nation that the people [had] to act if they wanted anything to change.
“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the “fierce urgency of now.” In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there “is” such a thing as being too late. There is no time for apathy or complacency. This is the time for vigorous and positive action. “
During the last twenty years, we have seen our wealth siphoned off with the blessings of incompetent politicians whose only reason for standing has been for what Anguilla affords them. And the people have stood silently by while we have seen government after government giving carte blanche to large developers, and in most cases, negotiated against ourselves. Our history is rife with examples. The Junks Hole development, Flag etc.
We saw one AUF government give itself exorbitant raises with little or no resistance from the opposition, the governor, or the people for that matter.
We stood silently by while that Chief Minister acted as the Chairman of the Board of a local bank, a bank that his government did business with, with the blessings of the governor who saw no conflict of interest. We continued to stand on the sidelines when we saw the Minister of Finance look the other way when another local bank headed by his brother continued to loan money as though it grew on trees.
We stood idly by as the AUM Chief Minister invited the Central Bank to come into Anguilla. He was hoping to catch the “big boys” in any wrongdoing, a move that resulted in the commandeering of our local banks NBA and CCB.
What we wound up with was the shuttering of both banks. People’s pensions were lost, our investments in both NBA and CCB went out the window. Our government stood by and watched as the Central Bank, which they invited[,] come in and run roughshod over the people of Anguilla after promising to rehabilitate the banks in six months.
Another AUF government came to power on the promise that “it’s all about you.” The release of the Banking Report, commissioned by the Central Bank in St. Kitts would be released and the banks would be saved. The Stabilization Levy imposed by the previous AUM government in lieu of laying off civil servants, was to be repealed. Neither of which was done.
That AUF government headed by Victor Banks, signed the death knell of Anguilla’s ability to move forward. No resistance to what the Central Bank proposed, a sort of “Sophie’s Choice,” where one group is sacrificed to save another, in this case we, the shareholders. Even the British governor responsible to look out for the Crown, chimed in and said that what the government was about to do, borrow money to fund a new government owned bank, would have an impact on future generations of Anguillians.
Although she knew it was a bad deal, the Honorable Governor Christina Scott signed off on it. At the Ecumenical Service at St. Mary’s Church the same year, I had the opportunity to speak with her. I told her she had her finger on the pulse of all things Anguillan, but I was somewhat puzzled that she had changed her mind and ascended to the budget, why was that?
She said she had some reservations, but after speaking with Chief Minister Banks, he assured her that her concerns would be addressed.
I replied, “but Governor, these are the same guys who promised to repeal the Stabilization Levy, the same guys who said they would save the indigenous banks, and the banks are gone, and the Levy is still in place. They didn’t do what they said they would do then. What makes you think that they are going to do what they promised you now?”
Governor Scott took a deep breath and said, “Mr. Hodge the people elected them and…” She caught herself mid-sentence and stopped. Any of us can finish the sentence. “You can vote them out of office.”
She caught herself and didn’t finish the sentence. She then excused herself, and made a hasty retreat, saying she had some prior engagements.
While a few had noticed the increasing duties, most felt betrayed by the failure to repeal the Stabilization Levy, and the cost of all those raises was catching up with them. Then, the proud shareholders and depositors of the indigenous banks of Anguilla lost it all with one stroke of Victor Banks’ pen. He had promised to save the banks, he just didn’t specify which set of banks. This one was a continuation of the Osborne Fleming regime. They soon did to the people’s property taxes what they did to their salaries a few years earlier and then began their “phased” approach to GST with interim Goods Tax, saying that it was “revenue neutral.”
We ended up with a government owned bank, subsidized by the remains of NBA and CCB, which excludes the shareholders of both banks. Why do we allow this sort of disrespect to continue? Are we less than? Were we not entitled to participate in the new bank? We recall Mr. Banks talking down to us as if we were fourth graders on investing and its pitfalls-as if our banks were just food-trucks with unsuccessful menus or locations that failed. All with the unimpeded help of our government, this time led by Victor Banks, who was more successful in getting himself a new title as Premier. Meanwhile, he stood silently as more pressure for more GST “phases” continued.
And then came Covid19, and our ports were closed thus turning off the spigot, which was tourism, the goose that laid the golden eggs. Fisherfolk was prevented from going out to fish, for some, the only means of earning an income with which to support their families. Hotels were closed, in a word, life as we knew it, came to a screeching halt. Victor, having spent all the money in the government’s coffers, found himself at the mercy of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, who had long wanted Anguilla to conform to generally accepted practices of good governance, now saw a golden opportunity to do so.
To be continued in Part II…
