Dear editor
Please permit me an opportunity to respond to a few statements which were in a letter that was in your paper of 13th June 2014 captioned “Whom Are They Trying To Fool?”
The writer of that anonymous letter claimed that I said, “I would try to bring in 2000 investors”. I am ABSOLUTELY sure that this was not said by me, neither was it said from the DOVE Party platform. The writer further said, “This would mean that Anguilla would have to have a population of approximately 100,000 working people”. This was neither said by me nor was it said by any member of the DOVE Party at any point in time. I will give the writer the benefit of the doubt that this is what he/she thought was said. I would hate to think that it was intended to discredit me or to discredit the DOVE Party in such a malicious manner. Anguilla is in crisis and this is no time for spreading misinformation or trying to discredit others based on false accounts. As a small island community, we ought to try to build bridges to each other rather than continue to polarize our society through falsehood. Our way of life is under threat and this is a serious matter.
For clarity and to elaborate, I will tell you what was said and is being said consistently by members of the DOVE Party where the number “2000” is used:
When elected, the DOVE Party will change the immigration policy and put incentives in place to attract 2000 moderately wealthy “active” retired people with spending power of approximately USD $5000.00 per month per couple to live in Anguilla. The immigration status of “Permanent Resident” would be sold/given to each retired person taking up this program after leasing a house for no less than 20 years or purchasing a house. This would start an unprecedented construction boom in Anguilla unlike anything that we have ever seen. This would create hundreds of mainly construction jobs for a number of years on the island. This would also create an opportunity for many Anguillians to sell or lease land and houses. Consequently, Anguilla would benefit from a much needed injection of USD $120,000,000.00 into our economy each year when these retired couples start living here. Every business in Anguilla would benefit from this directly or indirectly. This is a good time for Anguilla to be getting into this niche business as “baby-boomers” are now retiring in Europe and North America and are looking for warm climates to retire to.
I trust that the writer of the letter continues to “actively” listen to the public meetings of the DOVE Party as there are many other exciting plans we have to recover and grow Anguilla’s economy in a sustainable way. While I will not elaborate here, I will list the top five additional priorities the DOVE Party will focus on to grow the economy. Economic expansion will enable most other initiatives for transforming our island socially, environmentally and politically. The other five top priorities are:
1. Expand the Clayton J. Lloyd airport to accommodate jet service out of major markets like North America, South America and Europe
2. Quickly move to using renewable energy at Anglec and possibly elsewhere
3. Enable a tourism marketing approach that delivers much higher and sustained occupancy for our struggling hospitality accommodations
4. Build a few yacht marinas using the public/private sector partnership approach
5. Structure and focus agricultural and fishing resources in a way that they become major contributors to our diet and our economy
I trust that the writer can now better understand the DOVE Party’s economic development plans for Anguilla. If there is still confusion as regards this matter, please do contact any member of the DOVE Party. We are here to serve you the people of Anguilla and will do so by making Anguilla’s development a truly democratic process where every Anguillian can have a say in how we, the DOVE Party, position Anguilla for greatness and prosperity.
God bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
Sincerely,
Sutcliffe Hodge
Leader of the DOVE Party
