Within a few days, we will be celebrating 48 years of our Revolution which sharply terminated a long and onerous period of internal rule under St. Kitts.We are talking about a passage of almost half a century, and each Anguilla Day provides, as it were, an observation pinnacle and an opportunity from which we can look back and see what our accomplishments have been.
Our complaints, against rule under St. Kitts, included mistrust and fear; neglect such as a lack of an equitable portion of grant money for Anguilla; and a lack of basic infrastructural development including water, electricity and roads. On top of all of that, and more, was burdensome taxation despite our economic and financial inability to contribute to the coffers of what was perceived as an alien, uncaring and greedy Central Government in Basseterre.
Given the long period of our annexation with St. Kitts-Nevis from 1825, and the consequent protests we staged against the grossly unpopular union, we finally rebelled on May 30, 1967. At least, before, we had Britain as our mother colony, but when, under Associated Statehood, full internal responsibility for Anguilla was vested in the St. Kitts Government, we had no option but to flee for our lives. That getaway was a long journey, but it eventually brought appreciable measures of relief, a separate status, economic growth and a restoration of national pride and respect among our resilient people.
But for us the clock, ticking away the progress of time, appeared to have stopped or in fact, in some cases, have been turned back. Imagine, almost with fifty years of our forward march, our public water distribution service has remained a severe problem over the years – with a current unsatisfactory rationing system. Secondly, our electricity situation, though substantially improved in terms of generation and distribution, is costly and basically unaffordable and has resulted in numbers of disconnections. It is difficult to imagine that some of our people have been forced to return to the days of lamp light and semi-darkness. The above amenities, especially water, are matters which our new Government must deal with urgently as we continue to celebrate our Anguilla Day Revolution.
Although we sometimes appear to clamour for the advancement of our constitutional status, and then lose interest, constitutional reform is still a matter for consideration and with it comes other related matters for an aspiring people. These are certainly issues we must eventually tackle.
Our newly-elected Government is confronted with an arduous and perplexing task of moving Anguilla forward in the face of many difficulties and hindrances. We have various issues to deal with. These include reclaiming our indigenous banks; the need: to control crime; to pursue greater economic development to support our growing population; to provide gainful employment for our young people in particular; and to ensure better earnings for our workers. The Government must not fail in these planned efforts which are all enshrined in its 2015 Election Manifesto, now the blueprint for the development for Anguilla.
It is hoped that when we celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution and Anguilla Day, in the next two years, our beloved island home would be well on its way to sustainable economic development. We owe it to our freedom fighters and foot soldiers, past and present. To this end, The Anguillian takes this opportunity to commend and extol the ailing Father of the Nation, James Ronald Webster, who, with others, bravely held aloft the torch of our Revolution in the difficult and foreboding days of our rebellion.
We look forward to the day when the above question: “Whither Anguilla after 1967” can be fully answered; and it is assured that we have not only endured the test of time, but have accomplished most of our intended and lofty goals.
