Nine months after Hurricane Irma ravaged Anguilla and, with recovery efforts still underway, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, finally visited the island this week. He arrived on Sunday, May 27, and left on Tuesday, May 29, for visits to the Cayman Islands and Montserrat.
He was quoted as saying before his arrival: “I am coming to Anguilla to see for myself the vital work underway right now and to help the recovery efforts. I will be meeting the National Disaster Management Committee members, the Government, and Anguillians who have played a key role in helping to rebuild their communities.
“I will also have key meetings on the economy and finance, which I hope will help us to find a way to work together to boost the Anguillian economy.”
He spoke about his “whirlwind” tour of Anguilla at a dinner at Government House on Monday, May 28, attended by the Chief Minister, Ministers of Government, Permanent Secretaries and other invitees.
“I am particularly grateful to the Chief Minister who, at the break of dawn, very promptly, as he always does, arrived at 7.45,” he told his listeners. “I think we spent the best part of the day seeing different parts of Anguilla: schools; the hospital; visiting a centenarian; visiting and paying my respects to the home of the former Chief Minister; seeing the industry and the way British investment is working through in the private sector, on the hotel side; seeing how tourism can be bolstered; sitting directly with the Cabinet; hearing some of the important perspectives and priorities and [having] quite a candid exchange with the Government.
“It all very much, in my opinion, gave me a real sense of what Anguilla is and, more importantly, who Anguillians are…People have been asking me this evening, how has your day been, what do you think? There was integrity, a great deal of passion and conviction and commitment to Anguilla and a great deal of pride. I would also add a great deal of honesty.
“I really appreciated the candid exchange and the honesty which has been expressed to me because if you don’t see the true picture of what is in front of you, if you do not see the true sense of what the people feel, if you don’t get the true perspective of what the reality is, then your decision-making is ended. But when you get a full perspective, a full insight into the working of what matters, the priorities in terms of the country moving forward, and the importance of the relationship between the United Kingdom and Anguilla, you go away from visits, such as this, enriched by information, enriched by the expertise and insight you have gained – and certainly that is the case.”
The UK Minister went on: “I am extremely grateful. I am also grateful to our Governor. One thing is very clear. I have known Tim several years now and when he was first appointed to Anguilla, and shorty after I became Minister, amongst other things, for the Overseas Territories, he was very eager to come here and establish relationships. When I saw him this evening, and during the course of the day, I expressed the feeling and sentiment, which I am sure all of you agree on, that he has made some incredible inroads into strengthening the relationships on a one to one basis with each and every one of you here and beyond…
“In all seriousness, I think it is quite phenomenal and that’s what matters. Whatever we do, especially in public life, but in relationships between a country like the United Kingdom and our Overseas Territories and right here in Anguilla, it matters because relationships matter. Those personal relationships are the most challenging testing times of what determines how we move together; and that moving together is extremely important.”
Lord Ahmad said he wanted to be very open that there were issues of reconstruction, privatisation and funding to be addressed, but that they underlined the importance of the understanding he had gained about Anguilla.
He added: “I am extremely grateful for your time and to each and every one of you who make Anguilla the special place it is; and while I have only been here for 24 hours, I am enriched from my experience. I am enriched from meeting each and every one of you. Thank you for the warmth of the hospitality given me, and the rest of the team, and I look forward to working with you in a progressive, constructive, collaborative and collective way to make Anguilla an even stronger, successful and progressive country that it already is.”
