The Editor, The Anguillian
What is going on in Anguilla? Since Hurricane Gonzalo, the whole island appears to be in some kind of limbo. A hopeless, quietude has taken over. Where are the government services? The holes in our roads are the largest I’ve ever seen and are everywhere. Dodging them has become the new sport, and extremely hard to do when they appear in ‘clusters’. The Christmas season passed by and nothing was done. The tourist season is fast passing by and our roads are becoming steadily worse. Signs which fell down during the hurricane (and otherwise) are still down. There is no flag at the airport (has not been for a very long time).
Where is the ‘pride’ in our island? It was encouraging to see the comments re the derelict houses on the island in the newspaper recently. At last somebody is taking a stand (and hoping)! Our ‘smart’ clock at the roundabout is only working on one side. (If you can’t get it right, take it down altogether. It looks ridiculous.) Why is the Tourism Dept. not asking these questions? – most of our visitors certainly are.
The Anguilla National Trust is now busy researching the ‘iguana’ population of Anguilla – which is potentially destructive if left to increase undeterred. The ANT has lots of time (and funds) to work on this project. I have spotted 2 iguanas (on the south side of the island) in the past twenty five years. Meanwhile, the island is gradually being overrun by monkeys. (Some in the East End area and others near the Road pond.) Compared to islands which have a greater rainfall, Anguilla produces a rather meagre supply of homegrown vegetables and fruit. A few monkeys could clean out/destroy your garden overnight! What is the Agricultural Dept. doing about this menace? What is the Environmental Dept. doing? At some time or other these workers must get tired sitting in an air-conditioned office and may appreciate a field trip of some kind throughout the island. See first hand what is going on!
After Hurricane Gonzalo, Oct. 13, 2014 (over three months ago) we were told that Anguilla had received a substantial amount of money through an insurance relief fund of some kind. Where has that money gone? If, in fact, this money was allocated for hurricane relief how was it spent? If it was not allocated for that purpose, tell the people what it was used for – we have a right to know. Where is the transparency of the present government? What happened to that money? Anguillians only heard about that money because the people who sent it here wrote about it. Our government is mute on the subject. Where is the money? Did it reach here?
There are a lot of questions in this letter – If I don’t get any answers/comments I will ask the editor to reprint it at a later date.
A (nosy) Citizen.
