The Opposition Anguilla United Front held its first public meeting for the year atIslandHarbouron Saturday, February 18, three days after the ruling AUM Government of Chief Minister Hubert Hughes observed its second year in office.
The AUF speakers, beginning with Delsic Rey, spoke at length of what they saw as the Government’s failure to fulfill its election pledges and to demonstrate that it had a plan to deal withAnguilla’s severe economic and financial situation.
“At the last meeting we had in South Hill, I echoed some words to our Chief Minister to continue to make Anguilla what it was before, based on the promises that he said he was going to deliver to our people,” Rey stated in calling the meeting to order. “The watch which was on … is even stronger now. Many people are suffering more than they were then, and we are asking you to stop the fumbling and the disunity so that we can move forward with the business to get this economy up and running.”
Party Chairman, Victor Banks, noted that the AUF, which had been in power for ten years before the current Government, which was elected two years ago, was proud of its record. “We feel that we did what we promised the people ofAnguillawhat we would do to restore fiscal stability, economic stability and bring progress to the people of this country,” he went on. “I am sure that you will agree with me that until June 2008, when the world was affected by a recession which quite naturally impacted our country,Anguilla, we had done an excellent job.
“Because we had provisions in the good times, we were able to take this country forward through to 2010 with the reserves that we had accumulated in the good times to bear us up in the challenging times…From 2008 to 2010 we were able, from the resources that we had accumulated in reserves, to meet the shortfall in revenue that was required to manage this island.
“Even though you hear the Government complaining about meetingAnguillain a deficit, that deficit was taken care of by the reserves that we had accumulated over those years. So despite what you here, the Government of Anguilla did not meet this country in a situation which required them to do anything more than get on with the business of governance.
“Two years later we still hear the blame game continuing. This Government came to office because they said that they had a plan. They had a plan to turn Anguilla around in a very short time…If you have a plan, you must know what the problem is so we can only assume that they knew what problems existed inAnguilla; they knew the causes of those problems; they had solutions for those problems; and they had the ability to fix it.
“These are the things that we as Anguillians would have expected from a Government that said they had a plan and therefore you should elect us to office…The Chief Minister… came to you on these platforms and said, ‘I have a plan for Anguilla, but I will not reveal it until after you elect me to office.’ You can see how ridiculous that is.”
Mr. Banks declared that after two years, with the AUM Government in office, “nothing inAnguillahas changed” and he called on the people of the island to reflect on the leadership of the Chief Minister. He added: “two years is too long to wait for a plan to fixAnguilla… and to continue to blame the past Government.”
Curtis Richardson, who grew up in the Road South constituency, where the Chief Minister resides, claimed that the area was suffering from a tragedy whereby the people there were continuing to suffer “at the hands of the very people who say they have our interest at heart.” He said he was aware that after the elections in 2010 were over thatAnguillawould face a very sad future. He called into question the leadership of the Chief Minister whom, he said, had done nothing for Road South over his 40 years in politics, and in the three terms he was appointed to head the Government. He outlined a number of failures of the Government over the past two years and expressed disgust with its leadership ofAnguilla.
Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge stressed that life inAnguillawas difficult despite the glowing statements by members of Government. She noted that under the previous AUF Government,Anguillaprospered until the 2008 recession. During its 10 years in office the AUF, instead of mismanaging the economy, as the AUM Government said, had spent large sumsof money on road construction, educational scholarships and economic development. She accused the Government of burdening the people of the island with taxation.
“They said that if they were elected, they would turn straw into gold; that they had a secret master plan to turn things around; and that the master plan would only be revealed if you elected them,” she stated. “When they got into power, nothing absolutely positive happened. The first thing that they told the people wasthat there was an economic downturn and they believed that there was nothing they could do to help the country.
“Over a time, the people of this little island began to realise that there was no secret master plan. It seemed to have vanished into thin air. There was no explanation. There was no straw and so there was no gold. They imposed income tax which they renamed Stabilisation Levy so that it could sound good and more acceptable to the people. So, in fact, they taxed a dead economy. On the heels of imposing that income tax, jobs were either lost or hours of work cut, all to the detriment of the people ofAnguilla.” She also referred to the imposition of other taxes and levies, and increased fees, which were burdensome to the people of the island.
“The decision as to what happens to Anguillians will depend on you, the people, who elected them to Government,” she emphasised. “You have to take a stand and decide what is it that you want your Government to do for you.”
Former Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, responding to the AUM Government’s claim of having been elected to office to rescue Anguilla, said: “February 15, 2010, will go down in history as the worst dayAnguillaever had.”
Mr. Fleming continued: “If you recall, there were speeches and one man said: ‘Thank God, we are free from the shackles of the Anguilla United Front.’ Tonight, where are the shackles?”
The former parliamentarian congratulated McNiel Rogers and OthlynVanterpool for their contributions to debates in the House of Assembly and took the opportunity to refer to unruly behaviour in the House. “The record will show todaythat the House of Assembly inAnguillais a disgrace,” he said. “I, along with hundreds of Anguillians, do not listen to the House of Assembly.
“InIslandHarbour, I have not come to criticise anyone. But I come to say this: ‘all of us came from humble beginnings…Today we are blessed to be better off, and we must not forget from whence we came. I call upon the Speaker of the House, … to curtail your arrogance and please sit and learn.’ Now this is not saying anything bad about her. I am giving her fruitful advice because her behaviour in the House does not speak [well] for … a Speaker, and I am sure that she will take my advice. People need to listen to criticism, like I did, and do better.”
Mr. Fleming said he enjoyed servingAnguilla, and working with his colleagues, and he was proud of the achievements they made during that time. “The United Movement Government should be on this podium telling you what they have done and intend to do,” he stated. “They cannot face you because their lies have all fallen to the ground.” He saidAnguillawas experiencing much financial difficulty and would continue to do so for a long time, but he was concerned that when the Government said there would be no taxation, it imposed just that.
“The Minister of Finance, Mr. Hughes, didn’t tell you, but listen to what he has done to you and we are all sitting by and doing nothing about it. But if the United Front Government had been in power, there would have been marches everyday,” Mr. Fleming said. “In two years, he did the following: “He increased Property Tax by 150%; increased the Communication Levy from 7-10%; increased gasoline 100% and nobody has marched. He introduced a Stabilisation Levy of 3% and this is one of the reasons Malliouhana closed… so Hubert Hughes and his Government closed Malliouhana.” Mr. Fleming spoke in some detail on other matters which are causing much suffering inAnguillasince the change of Government.
Othlyn Vanterpool joined in recounting many of the difficulties being faced by the people ofAnguillaand the need for Government to fulfill its promises to the electorate. “When something seems to be going right, it is the result of the Government’s initiatives, but when things go wrong, they say it is the fault of either the Opposition, the past Government, Victor Banks, the Governor, the British Government, somebody or something else,” he observed. “The Chief Minister and his Government never take the blame for anything negative. They must find somebody else to blame.”
Vanterpool advised the Chief Minister and his colleagues that leadership was “about taking responsibility, rather than making excuses and laying blame.”
Speaking briefly at the late hour of the meeting, Opposition Leader, McNiel Rogers,criticised the Chief Minister for delivering a statement in the House of Assembly asking for Lolita Richardson to be placed in the Attorney General’s Chambers to review laws before they were taken to the House, a matter that was not his area of responsibility. “Hubert knows better than that,” he stressed.
Mr. Rogers also expressed concern that the Chief Minister and other colleagues were taking advantage of parliamentary privilege in the House of Assembly to malign members of the former Government and other persons who were unable to respond.
