Friday the 26th of June will long be a day that those of us living in Anguilla will never forget, for it was the day that one of our two indigenous banks, the Caribbean Commercial Bank, was closed during the height of one of the busiest days of the week – the first time in its 40-year history – by an issue that really didn’t have to turn into a national crisis. Why? Was there a national disaster? Was it a bank holiday? Or was it bank failure? Since none of these were present, what then was the reason for its closure? Let’s try and figure this out.
In order to do so, one needs to go back to August 12th 2013 when it was decided that it would be best to transfer the day-to-day operations of both indigenous banks, NBA and CCB, to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
What that entailed was the wholesale removal of the boards from both banks and Ms. Starry Benjamin, the manager of CCB, the one who would have perhaps the most to lose, for she had an ironclad contract with the bank, and based on the fact that she had done nothing to cause her dismissal, the bank would have to honor her contract, a fact that would be later upheld by two courts. A very smart move by my cousin, given the sacrifice that she made to come back home. She simply did what she had to do in protecting her livelihood. I’m sure she knew the probability of whoever had been hired could also be fired, and I’m sure she may have had cause to fire many in her time.
So despite the objections by everyone, Mr. Hughes, as the Minister of Finance, signed off on the transfer of the running of the banks to the Central Bank It has always been common knowledge that the Minister of Finance was never a friend of the local banks, an assertion that can be borne out by his administration’s actions in the handling of the whole matter, as was evident by his signing of an amendment to the banking bill giving the ECCB free rein to do whatever they deemed necessary and without fear of prosecution for any wrongdoing, while preventing Anguillians from having any recourse. In other words, we could not sue for damages.
Despite this, Ms Benjamin, in possession of an ironclad contract, sued and won in both courts. When ECCB did not appeal to the Privy Council, her lawyers went to the courts to force the bank to honor the judgment. They failed to do so and as a consequence, the court issued a ‘writ of execution’ for Ms. Benjamin’s lawyers to go in and force ECCB-CCB to settle the lawsuit. This writ was not to close the bank, but simply to enforce the judgment, and under enforcement the management of the bank had several options, the first of which was to negotiate with the plaintiff’s lawyers (1) Pay as directed by the courts (2) Negotiate with plaintiff’s lawyers on a payment plan, and if those options failed, then as a last resort seize assets to satisfy the debt. The writ contained a walking agreement under which certain assets could have been identified to satisfy the claim while allowing the bank to stay open. This could have been done without the knowledge of the general public. So the question that arises is why did it go down in this manner? Was this incompetence on the banks’ part, or sheer willfulness on ECCB/CCB/s part – a way of embarrassing us in Anguilla. Clearly, the one person who wasn’t embarrassed was the plaintiff.
What happened to Ms. Benjamin, one can argue wasn’t fair, and one can also argue that it was equally unfair to blame her for the bank’s closure. The blame for this shameful act ought to be dumped on the steps of the Central Bank in St. Kitts where it truly belonged. It is grossly unfair for anyone to blame Starry, and I dare anyone of you out there who are barking to tell me that you would have done any differently. Folks, we have very short memories and that’s sad, for none of you said one word when Starry was marched out of the bank to the cheers of some, with just the clothes on her back, but now since she’s won it’s alright to come out and blame her for standing up for her rights!
It is time we put the blame where it truly belongs, on the doorstep of the ECCB and all associated with it, who were wrong in their actions, who lost in court not just once, but twice and were told to pay up and, who failed to act on the orders of the courts, which left Ms Benjamin’s lawyers no other choice but to force them to pay. Friday’s actions, though sad, were the culmination of two years worth of disrespect of a woman and of a people, by an organization whose thirst for power is not in our best interests.
It is said that he who controls the purse strings controls his destiny. This is a saying that the sooner that we convert it into action, the better off we’ll be. The ECCB in their failure to execute the court order in a timely manner, to pay Ms. Benjamin, gave us in Anguilla a gift on a golden platter. They refused to act when they were so ordered by two courts, so what do we expect them to do of their own volition?
It appears that we consistently find ourselves asking the question, where do we go from here? Does anyone really know? Does anyone really care? We now have a new government in place and this was an excellent opportunity for the CM, who is also the Minister of Finance, to come out and tell us exactly what is going on. While he did issue a statement on radio Facebook with regard to Friday’s bank closure, the fact remains that he needed to have done more, much, much more. There are still unanswered questions: Could this issue of the bank closure have been averted? Why did it take so long after the courts decision? We need to see our leaders grab the bull by its horns, and if ever there was an opportunity to do so, this banking issue was it.
Hopefully, when the bank opens again, all the issues will have been resolved. This wasn’t something that just popped up and one has to think that all involved had to have known what was going on and if not, does not bode well for those tasked with looking out for our best interests. Last week I said we need leadership that has the intestinal fortitude and the outside of the box thinking, one who can make the tough calls, one who is proactive not reactive. Were we blindsided? Where were those whose job it is to be in the know about such things? We are now living in difficult times and as such require difficult measures. We need to see our Minister of Finance step up to the plate and let the powers that be know that Anguilla will not be bullied. We need our banks repatriated back to us and the sooner this happens, the better. We cannot continue to be soft on this issue. We need to collect our collective cojones, the same ones we used in ’67, and get this done. I’m under the impression that now that we have a very talented and skilled group of representatives on both aides of the aisle and, as the saying goes, all of us are smarter than one of us.
What has happened does not bode well for us as Anguillians. It makes us look like a bunch of incompetent imbeciles who can’t seem to get anything right. First we run the two local banks into the ground, and now we can’t even manage to keep them open. Right now the Greeks are raising Cain over their survival. Their banks will be closed for six days. People don’t have access to their money. What are we doing? We marched in support of the Indians, when we thought that they were being unfairly treated. What have we done for ourselves. We will jump on Starry for sticking up for her rights but, you know what, none of you who would ridicule her can hold a candle up to her, for she still went out like the lady that she came back as, for if she wanted to be vindictive she wouldn’t have agreed on a payment plan to settle the lawsuit. She could have said I don’t give a damn about anyone, pay me now. She didn’t do that. She was very conciliatory in her victory.
When will we get it, that we have to stand up for that which we believe in. The question is, what is it that we believe in? Is it a better Anguilla where we look out for each other, where we give each other a hand up rather than looking down on them? We will crucify Starry, a daughter of the soil, who did her best to help everyone, who did what she thought was right, but we won’t lift a finger to help anyone – and I’ll tell you something else: Starry is my cousin. I went to her at the bank to conduct some business for my aunt, the woman who raised me, and she told me, I’m sorry, but since you are not a signatory on this account, I can’t do this. It didn’t matter that we were related, she did it by the book. That’s who she was. She helped lots of people in Anguilla and most of them turned their backs on her when she was marched out of the bank, and forced to stand out in the street waiting for a ride home.
The last thing that she would have wanted was for her customers to be inconvenienced last Friday, so to those of you who would blame her, you need to keep quiet and be thankful that you had the privilege of knowing someone like Starry who went away like all of us and made something of ourselves. You loudmouths, you have no right to open them. You should be thankful that we kept you afloat, rather than being angry and bitter. And until we begin to recognize that each and everyone of us has something to offer we’re never going to get out of the crab barrel.
Now is the time for all of us to come together, and let the powers that be know that we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore. Those of you who are lambasting Starry couldn’t even carry her bags. How dare you? We should all be angry at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and its minions who, by their actions, have clearly demonstrated that they really don’t give a damn about us. What more do we need to happen to be totally convinced? What have they really done for us? We’re just propping up their worthless EC dollar with our foreign currency. When are we going to wake up? I was under the impression that this time out we elected competent leadership. Will we have buyers remorse?
Let us, in no uncertain terms, let the Governor and his minions of the ECCB know that Anguilla wants no part of this union. We need to find our own identity and, as I’ve said earlier, there’s no love lost between Anguilla and the ECCB, for he who controls the purse strings controls his own destiny and, after all, isn’t what we’ve been striving for the last 48 years? Does the ECCB or anyone for that matter really care about us and our plight ? What do you think? So until next time let us come together as one, and remember what our forefathers so gallantly fought for. May God bless us all and may God continue to bless Anguilla.
