The recent decision by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to assume control of our two indigenous Banks (NBA and CCB) seems to have created a “breeding ground” for a propaganda campaign by obvious AUM supporters on the various blogs. I read a long posting that was reminiscent of the 2010 election campaign regarding the issue of the ECCB takeover that was full of the usual lies and half-truths. It is apparent that the 2015 campaign will be more of the same — yet we hope that the electorate will not be distracted from the facts and the real issues by such “trashy commentary”. As usual the names of AUF party members and myself were foremost in this libelous posting. And, once again, I challenge the cowardly author or authors of that scandalous trash to do as I do and make their statements under their own name in the public media.
I must mention one of the claims by the blogger that demonstrates the inconsistency of the campaign of lies. On previous occasions they have accused the AUF of being funded by various developers to the tune of several million dollars — yet on this occasion, and for this purpose, they claim that the AUF took out a campaign loan of some US$200,000 from NBA that is not being repaid. Obviously, these cowardly bloggers will say any and everything to tarnish the name of the Anguilla United Front in an effort to gain political advantage. But just for the record: “THE AUF DID NOT TAKE OUT A LOAN OF US$200,000 IN THE 2010 ELECTION CAMPAIGN”. However, if the AUF did take such a loan it was our right to do so provided we satisfied the requirements for repayment including the necessary “collateral” like so many other Anguillians. The whole thing is getting very silly and is merely another trick with “smoke and mirrors” to draw attention away from this AUM Government’s incompetent handling of the issues facing Anguilla. Are we going to go through another eighteen months of this while the situation in the economy worsens?
But we now need to look at another public company, namely, ANGLEC. Like the indigenous banks, Anguilla and Anguillians also own ANGLEC. And as we get the news that the General Manager is being placed on administrative leave, and that the Deputy Chairman of the Board (Rev. Dr. H. Clifton Niles) has resigned in the wake of a number of sweeping allegations in his letter of resignation. We wonder if ANGLEC will be next in line for some form of regulatory intervention. I expect that a copy of Rev Niles’ letter will be elsewhere in this newspaper so I will not list his allegations in any detail. However, it should suffice to say that the issues he raised are disturbing.
As I read Rev. Niles’ comments and recommendations I felt that I should take readers back to my column in The Anguillian of May 21, 2010 entitled: “Comments on a planned “Hostile Takeover” of ANGLEC”. I believe it may be instructive. I wrote in part as follows:
“The identifying characteristic of a Public Company is exactly that — it is owned by the public. And even though we live in a democracy — provision is made to ensure that the majority does not trample on the rights of the minority. A public company should therefore as far as possible reflect the interests of all the shareholders.
“For a Government which boasts of being for the people, all the people — it is scandalous, the high-handed manner in which it has sought to carry out a “hostile takeover” of the ANGLEC utility. Every single Anguillian shareholder besides the Government and the Social Security Board are being effectively excluded and in truth disenfranchised from having any say in the running of ANGLEC.
“The Honourable Minister of Utilities Mr. Evan Gumbs and the Chairman of the Social Security Board have actually joined together to take over the control of the electricity utility. It means that ordinary people and major shareholders like NBA and CCB have been relegated to rubber stamps in the governance of ANGLEC. They cannot even choose a single director that may represent any specific interests they may have.
“What is happening now is a marked departure from what is considered appropriate conduct for a public company. It means that the Government and Social Security can conceivably unilaterally decide on rates; dividends to be paid; investments to be considered; contracts to be awarded; Staffing and hiring issues; procurement issues etc. And because both the Ministry and the Social Security Board are now virtual political entities — many of these decisions could be on the basis of political considerations.
“I would venture to say that few of these candidates (selected) have had any experience on Boards but as in many cases I would expect that they have the platform for additional training. I say this in the context that in keeping with its mission to elevate the level of competence among members of Boards in the region, ECCB through the Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchange has initiated a number of comprehensive courses for Board Members particularly those of Financial Institutions and Public Companies. Every single member of the present ANGLEC Board of Directors has undergone this training.
“ANGLEC is an asset valued at over 100 million dollars. Those of you from every political persuasion who put up your hard earned money to buy into the company as well as all customers must be concerned about the strength of the Board in managing your investment and in delivering your services. Let me repeat it again — I am not making any judgment on the abilities of the proposed candidates. I am simply making the point that ideally the selection process should not be driven by political considerations alone.
“So I want to leave you all with a few thoughts to ponder on:
• ANGLEC is a public company in which a number of Anguillians and Anguillian entities have been encouraged to make considerable investments.
• The actions being pursued by the Minister and the Chairman are blatantly high-handed but may also be considered unethical and unfair.
• The proposed action is not in keeping with the principles of good corporate governance especially important for public companies.
• The proposed action is neither sensitive nor sensible for creating goodwill for an organization that has a monopoly on providing vital services to the entire nation.
• It is conceivable that this action could destroy the credibility of ANGLEC as it seeks to be a leading edge organization in a period when the focus is on important global issues like alternative energy and climate change.
“Finally, it has been noted that the Honourable Minister of Utilities, Mr. Evan Gumbs, during his campaign promised to reduce the price of electricity to consumers. While this is a good thing — if the proposed actions are in any way a means of facilitating that promise, to the exclusion of considerations for the sustainability of the Utility for both customers and shareholders we are heading down a slippery and dangerous path.”
It would seem that all that I said in 2010 is encapsulated in Rev. Niles’ recommendations for the way forward for ANGLEC in his letter of resignation. Rev. Niles wrote: –
“I recommend the following:
(a) That the skills set needed on the Board for maximum efficiency and effectiveness be clearly determined and included in the By-Laws and future appointments to the Board be made accordingly.
(b) That the By-Laws be so amended that no single shareholder shall have the ability to control all appointments to the Board.
(c) That it be made a condition for future membership on the Board beyond the first year, that every Board member be the holder of at least a certificate in Corporate Governance.”
I would hope that the appropriate regulatory agencies investigate the merits or demerits of Rev. Niles’ concerns. Possibly including the Public Utilities Commission; the Financial Services Commission; the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange; and the ECCB Corporate Governance Department. In fact, the shareholders themselves have the right to demand an investigation into the conduct of both the Board and Management if they perceive that there is need for such. It seems clear that this is a slippery and dangerous path we are sliding down.
And by the way! And just for the blogger’s information: I don’t have any shares in ANGLEC either!
