“Tis only fit for goats.” It might as well be under water as above it, and “Tis not worth keeping.” “Hath so few inhabitants, and most of them so poor, that whosoever hath, or will have it, will be very little the better for it.” “I will put bones in their rice and pepper in their soup.” Recognize any of these phrases? Probably not, but anyone familiar with our history would recognize those statements as being made by high British officials and Mr. Robert Bradshaw, all of whom were tasked with administering our well being. And those were but a small portion of the disparaging remarks made about us, so it is little wonder, then, that we have always had to fight tooth and nail for anything that we got.
That being said, we are still having to fight to have a say in determining our own destiny, and if we don’t pay attention to our history we are doomed to repeat the same stupid mistakes of the past. It is clear that our people do not use the events of the past as yardsticks for the future, and as Winston Churchill once said: “A people who do not know their history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.” We, as a people, have very short memories, for we tend to not remember the sacrifices that our forefathers made, some with great personal risk to themselves and their families.
No one remembers the dog days of ’67 when it all seemed to be unraveling, when a few brave souls braved the Barbados conference where the cards were definitely stacked against us. However, despite what transpired down there, we were able to see who our true friends were, and it became crystal clear that we were basically on our own. We were able to weather the storm, in spite of ourselves.
It is ironic then, that after having just celebrated Anguilla Day, that we find ourselves once more having to fight for that which is rightfully ours. We were prepared to give our lives for what we believed in back in ’67, and now we find ourselves again in exactly the same situation, this time though with a bit of a twist. The last time found us fighting for our constitutional rights because we believed that a man some 70 miles away, who held us in contempt, should not determine our destiny, and therefore we did something about it. Now, almost 50 years later, we once again find ourselves in a similar situation, this time though, it is all about finance.
“A people who do not know their history is doomed to relive it again,” so goes the refrain of one of our famous calypsonians. It is then appropriate for me to provide a brief history of our financial situation. In the early days of our revolution we had two banks in Anguilla, but every time they had to make a decision, an OK had to be gotten from the Central Bank in St. Kitts and therefore we had to resort to the good old Anguillian ingenuity – and thus the National Bank of Anguilla was founded by a group of very enterprising Anguillians, among them Kennedy Hodge and Marcel Fahie.
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. When we were unable to borrow money from the existing banks, we went out and founded our own, though, I might add, it was tough sledding going forward for the then Minister of Finance, Mr. Hubert Hughes, allegedly opposed such a move and instead wanted to award the bank to Mr. Spadaro, and a group from West End, which would have made it a private bank, but thanks to CM Sir Emile Gumbs, the bank was able to go forward.
It will be two years this coming August 12th since the ECCB, with the blessing of our Minister of Finance, Mr. Hughes, came in a took control of both local banks, NBA and CCB, citing as its reasons, the banks inability to function as they should, a fact I might add, they were quite aware of, quite early, but chose to do nothing.
Given that it has been almost two years since the banks were taken over, one could safely conclude, then, that Anguilla’s best interests are not being met. We know that the Central Bank’s primary objective is to shore up the EC dollar. So where does that leave us? Our primary currency is the US dollar. Anguilla generates some 66% of the foreign currency in the entire region. We also know that the Governor of the ECCB has said that he wants to see less banks in the region. How many banks there are is no concern of his. His job as the Governor of the Central Bank is to see to it that they run like they’re supposed to.
It is a well known fact that the US dollar is our primary currency. If not for the Government’s use of the EC dollar, there is the likelihood that it would become extinct in Anguilla. So when the ECCB says that its primary function is to stabilize the EC dollar, it seems contrary to everything we believe in. Without these two local banks, Anguilla reverts back to backwater status. Do we really want to go back there? We turned back the clock in 1980 when we chose colonial status with Great Britain, an idea that many thought was OK at the time, but one always aspires to moving forward to bigger and better things.
My fellow Anguillians, we’ve just elected a brand new government and I was proud to read that on Anguilla Day, the lone opposition member, the Honorable Palmavon Webster, chose the occasion to talk about our indigenous banks. She said, and I quote: “I ask respectfully that the discussions and debates be opened up to the light of day and shared with the people whose futures are at stake.” It has been almost two years that the ECCB has taken control of the banks. What is the delay in releasing its findings? Do we have the findings and are afraid to release them? What gives? I agree with the Honorable member from District One, that daylight needs to shine on the findings. Also, I agree wholeheartedly with the honorable member when she says that: “If we don’t want this left in the hands of outside forces, if we don’t want this decided FOR US instead of BY US, then we need information.”
“We are sailing into a storm and everyone needs to be alert if we are to make it through,” was her final admonition to us, on that most reverent of days. And I do believe that the honorable member from District One has the support of every Anguillian far and wide. We need to have those banks repatriated back to us, sooner rather than later. As the owners of those two banks, we have the absolute right to determine what happens to them. No one has the right or the authority to come in and say we are going to close or amalgamate them, because there are too many banks in the region. Not the Governor, not Osbourne Fleming, not Hubert Hughes or Victor Banks for that matter. How dare they? Do they know how hard we worked for the money that we used to found those banks?
Anguillians, we need to come together as one and slay this monster that would turn back the hands of time on us. Ask yourselves this question: Can we really afford to let this happen? I agree with the opposition that something needs to be done. We fought one hell of a battle back in ‘67 to rid ourselves of an oppressive regime, because we wanted to have a say in our own destiny. I don’t understand then how we have allowed an organization, whose stated objective is to stabilize the EC dollar, to come in and dictate what’s to happen to our two local banks. Tell me folks, in veiw of the fact that we use the US dollar, as our primary currency, how does that concern us.?
We have very short memories, it’s true, but there are those of us who remember, and are unwilling to let the past die, for as Marcus Garvey said: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture, is like a tree without roots.” We put everything we had on the line to separate ourselves from the state of St. Kitts and Nevis, and now we find ourselves back in a similar situation, this time though, a monetary one. We’ve replaced one despot in Robert Bradshaw with another. How is this all possible? Perhaps that can be answered by the fact that we have allowed ourselves to be passive observers.
If we stop and think for a moment, the possibilities of what could happen are just mindboggling. We now have a chance to rectify this situation. Mr. Hughes allowed the ECCB to come in and take over our banks and then promptly retired from politics. Well, we need to know from the new Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, the status of both banks – and the sooner we find out the better off we’ll be.
It is therefore essential that the new Minister of Finance, in an open forum, tell the people of Anguilla what is going on and what is the plan going forward. I’m sure that the Honorable Minister of Finance is well aware of the importance of those banks. As the former Minister of Finance, I’m sure that the inner workings of the banks are very familiar to him. Properties and lands, the benchmarks of Anguillian independence, are in danger of being expropriated and, with that, our independence, the one thing that sets us apart from everyone else in the world. We cannot afford to lose any of that, and if we must fight, then damn it we’ll fight.
For every dollar that the indigenous banks pull in, 6 cents go into the coffers of the ECCB. That’s our money, money that’s to be used to replenish any shortfalls. The government of Antigua made them do just that but, in our case, our Minister of Finance was MIA (missing in action) and therefore they did nothing. Rumor has it that a lot of our assets were sold off and large sums of money were transferred to the Central Bank. These are things that need to be resolved. The former Minister of Finance, retired from politics leaving the banks in a very tenuous position, a fate that we as a people did not deserve – left without as much of a peep. It all finally came full circle.
It appears we can’t win for losing, as the saying goes. Forty-eight years ago we fought to determine our own destiny, and here we are once again – this time fighting a different battle, only the despots have been changed. We will not take any marching orders from any despot, especially one from St. Kitts. I think it’s about time we set, in motion, plans to exit the ECCB. It has failed in its fiduciary duties and so, it is time that we remove ourselves from this union. Anything in which Anguilla follows St. Kitts in its title is a nonstarter.
As a people, Anguillians, have suffered at the hands of those who would make fun of us, those who didn’t think we were worth anything, but despite the slings and arrows coming our way, a proud and resilient people emerged. We are truly at the threshold of the 21st century. We are now a part of a global community and, with just the right people in place, we can redefine ourselves. To the new and incoming government, to the opposition, you both now have the unfettered opportunity to go where no other government has gone before, to see to it that Anguilla now functions for all of us and not just some, and that we treat each other with respect in spite of our differences. Let us come together and create a country for all and not just a few. What’s to become of us? That is the sixty four thousand dollar question. Only time will tell. So till next time, may God bless us all, and may God continue to bless Anguilla.
