Little Harbour
Anguilla
22 February 2012
The Anguillian
Anguilla
Dear Sir,
Kindly allow me space in your newspaper to bring to the attention of the general public the callous, shameful and mindless boast of blatant victimization inflicted on me by the former Chief Minister, Mr Osbourne Fleming, under his Anguilla United Front (AUF) government’s term of office.
Mr Fleming was one of the speakers at the political meeting held inIslandHarbouron Saturday, 18 February 2012, and he took the opportunity to launch a withering attack on me. Among other things, he stated that I should not be blaming Mr Victor Banks for not including me among the residents for whom houses were constructed away from the expanded Wallblake (now Clayton Lloyds) Airport, so that they would not have to endure the hazards of living near the airport. And then he shamelessly bragged that he, Mr Osbourne Fleming, was the one who ordered that a house was not to be built for me. And he went on to boast that any such house would have been built over his dead body. Readers would know that it was government’s policy to build homes elsewhere for persons living near the airport so that such persons could move into such homes, and that this policy came about because of the airport extension.
Fellow citizens, here is a man boasting in a public meeting, that was broadcast far beyond the shores of Anguilla, that while he was Chief Minister, he victimized a citizen of his country and deprived her of the same chance he allowed others to live in a noise-and-other pollution-free environment away from the airport.
Fellow citizens, if this does not amount to willful, spiteful and wicked discrimination, what does it amount to?
Any mature-thinking person would realize that once elections are over and he/she assumes the office of Chief Minister, his/her duty is to protect the interest of all citizens. The welfare of every resident of the country is included in the portfolio of the Chief Minister.
I hope, voters, that everyone of you who is fair-minded, everyone of you with a sense of justice and fair play will reflect on the implications of Mr Osbourne Fleming’s heartless admission of victimization. I also hope that each of you will realize that any party whose Head of Government feels so comfortable about boasting, on its political platform, about the discrimination he practised on any resident, is unworthy to be entrusted with a mandate to run this country. A mandate implies an awareness of responsibility for the welfare of every citizen, not a licence to single anyone out for discrimination and then brag about it.
Yours truly,
Carmen Woods
