The above caption appears to be a common and routine wish – however heartfelt and sincere it may be. But it transports a real desire to see Anguilla and its people rise again and to be happy about it. There is indeed a great urgency for us to move beyond a myriad of difficult challenges to a safe and secure haven of economic and financial growth and success. It is a harbour where we are desirous of seeing the lives of our people rebound with prosperity and hope, and where crime and violence cease to pop up their ugly heads in our otherwise peaceful and demure island nation.
In order to achieve this, there is a need for a united people and government to move forward with all the determination, resilience and capacity that we have become known for. Our problems to overcome are immediate. They are mainly concerned with the still unresolved situation involving the much-aggravated and depressing banking sector since August 2013. Then, now in 2016, there is a high level of increased taxation, planned borrowing and repayment of loans towards redeeming the banks of Anguilla. This has accordingly inflated the budget with the Government lamenting the increased tax and revenue measures to finance it and the citizenry trying to cope with, and understand, the oncoming financial strain facing them. It is here that we all must show a sense of responsibility – however difficult – in the knowledge that, as the saying goes, “tough times don’t last, but tough people do”. Most times, and particular at this time, this appears to be the stance we must take if we must overcome that which so painfully besets us.
There has been the reluctant passage in the Anguilla House of Assembly of a number of new taxes and increases of fees in order to bolster the 2016 budget. Among them, passed on December 30, were the Interim Stabilisation Levy (Act) 2015 which the Anguilla United Front Government vowed to rescind during the general election campaign, but had to back off from for budgetary reasons; the Vehicle and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2015; the Control of Employment (Amendment) Act, 2015; and the Property Tax Act, 2015. All of these pieces of legislation were assented to by the Governor the following day, December 31, obviously in support of their intended purpose.
What is strange is that the overall and apparently carefully-crafted budget has not yet been approved by the United Kingdom Government. This has become an urgent and unsettling question in the minds of the Anguilla Government itself as well as all right-thinking members of the public. There has been some negative feedback expressed by a minority of persons but, generally, there is wide public acceptance that if the budget requires the people of Anguilla to pay more to run the affairs of the island, and reduce some of our difficulties, then so be it. No one wants to see our people unnecessarily overburdened with taxation, but if we must maintain our pride, dignity and resilience, by helping to pay our own way, it would be a plausible thing for us to pay our taxes as other people elsewhere readily do.
The British Government has been one of the parties involved in the resolution of our banking crisis from day one – following the conservatorship of the two local commercial banks, although its role has not been clear. The British Government is therefore fully aware of the situation and the urgency for a resolution, and must lend its support to the Government and people of Anguilla to resolve the banking crisis without seeking to impose a solution or interfering in any workable arrangement towards that end. The delay in approving the budget has raised certain concerns and has the ability of contributing to public disquiet or lack of confidence however small that national situation may be. Taxation should not be an underlying problem since the British Government is on record urging Anguilla, and its other Overseas Territories, to impose taxes on their citizens rather than expecting the United Kingdom to support them with the taxes paid by its nationals. Any borrowing by Anguilla to remedy its banking crisis should not also be a hindrance to approving the budget since the Anguilla Government, and its technical staff, have diligently hammered out a way, through taxes and an increase in fees, towards resolving the banking crisis and financing the general public services. The United Kingdom must provide the necessary leverage and support for its territories, and have confidence in the ability of their leaders to make independent decisions for the people who elected them to office.
It is hoped that in the next few days the budget will be approved to avoid creating another stumbling block and a state of anxiety in Anguilla. The delay of its approval should of necessity be an embarrassment to the Governor who has already assented to a number of contributing tax measures, as stated earlier, and who, being on the ground, may not wish to stand in the way of Anguilla and its people. It is also hoped that the Government, as well as the people of the island, who must give their capable leaders a chance to make decisions and to govern, will work together in 2016 to move Anguilla forward along a path of economic and financial success. It is in that sense and respect that we look forward to a happy and prosperous 2016.
