Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, and his Ministers of Government, brought the media and the people of Anguilla up to date with various matters – some new, and others already known – concerning the progress and general wellbeing of Anguilla. They were at the time speaking at their regular press conference on Tuesday, October 23.
Chief Minister Banks briefly reflected at the just-ended signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the airport expansion project with the Canadian Commercial Corporation. “Today we had a very historic signing because the airport project now includes the Canadian Government as a stakeholder in its delivery. We are very happy to know that they are not only being a part of the development, but they are also financing the early aspects even before the project has been approved.” (See story elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.)
On other matters, Mr. Banks stated: “There are a lot of concerns about statements made in the public press. I recall that somebody said to me: ‘I didn’t know that the Government of Anguilla had 700 million dollars in debt.’ We are not hiding – there is no lack of transparency as far as our debt is concerned. The Ministry of Finance publishes a quarterly bulletin and in that [issue for June] you can see clearly that our total debt is 508 million dollars – and of that debt close to 250 million dollars was taken on to secure the Social Security Fund after the total collapse of the indigenous banks where a number of deposits were held. So that was done for a good purpose to support the people of Anguilla who had made their contributions over the year. The issue is that the Government of Anguilla cannot meet a number of its infrastructural needs unless it incurs debt from time to time. But I want to say that the Quarterly Review also points out that the Government is not in arrears in meeting all of its debt commitments, and we will continue to do so into the future. In terms of the trajectory of the economy, in 2018, we are doing exceedingly well.
“The other issue that is related to that debt is the fact that the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla – the Bridge Bank – the object of that support – is doing extremely well and we are looking forward to preparing it for that time when it will be necessary to dispose of a portion, at least, of Government’s holdings in that bank – and that is required by the Regulatory Agreement and the Resolution that were put together.”
The Chief Minister continued: “It is my understanding that during the launching of the AUM team, last week, that a number of statements were made. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the AUM party on the launching of their candidates for the 2020 election, and I look forward to some very positive and respectful engagement, over the next two years, as we continue our several groups to vie for the management of the Anguilla economy.
“The Anguilla United Front Government is confident in the path that it has taken. We are confident that the steps we have taken to achieve what we call the Anguilla Dream are necessary. Some of them will involve sacrifices but that is the way, as a country, we have lived by our wits over the years; and we as a people have made a number of sacrifices. As the Anguillian family, we also have to make a number of sacrifices from time to time to take things forward.”
Mr. Banks added: “I am going to ask the Minister of Home Affairs and Constitutional Affairs to speak on the progress we are making with the constitutional amendments. We have come to the conclusion that it might be challenging to be able to put the entire Constitution in place by next election. The British Government has agreed with us, and has supported us in putting forward the necessary and consequential changes that need to be made to make that possible.”
The Minister, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, said that over the years the Anguilla Government had been looking at constitutional reform and the best way to get that done. “Recently, a decision has been made, by the UK Government, that they were going to engage in a year-long review of the status of the Overseas Territories,” she reported. “That review, at the end of 2019, will have an impact in terms of how Anguilla and the other Overseas Territories are treated based on what comes out of that report. In the interim, we felt it was necessary not to engage in wholesale constitutional reform at this stage, but to make proposals for amendments to our existing Constitution. The reason for that is because we recognise that the existing Constitution does not address all our needs in this day and time. There are now a number of issues that have arisen which require us to make amendments. One of the key amendments will be at large voting. That is something which the Anguilla United Front Manifesto had spoken about. When I took on the portfolio I also spoke about moving towards at large voting. Coming out of that, we determined that it is one of the things that we want to put in place for the 2020 general elections…”
The Minister said that among other amendments to the Constitution, the Government had written to Lord Ahmad about the need to extend belongership to grandchildren excluded from being recognised as Anguillians. “The proposals went forward and were accepted by the British Government. Over the last week, the reforms were finalised in terms of a Draft Order in Council that was delivered to us,” she stated, mentioning that the Order was subsequently amended by the Anguilla Government in terms of what it wanted to revise in the Constitution.
The Minister went on: “I am happy to report that, as of Friday, October 19, the Permanent Secretary in my Office, Mrs. Chanelle Petty Barrett, along with persons in the Governor’s Office and other persons, were able to have a conference call with Ian Hendry, a renowned Constitutional Lawyer in the UK, who the British Government had advised they were going to engage. Coming out of that meeting, they were able to finalize [the amendments].”
The Minister said her Ministry was organising a public meeting for Monday, October 29. “The reason for this is that having received back the Draft Order in Council, in a form that is acceptable to us, we want to put it out to the public,” she explained. “I have asked my Permanent Secretary to send out the information to the media houses, my fellow politicians, and the general public – as to its contents – so that when we have our public meeting we can have a very productive and fruitful meeting.”
The other speakers were the Minister of Health and Social Development, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers; the Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Curtis Richardson; and the Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, Mr. Cardigan Connor.
Mr. Rogers spoke about several meetings he attended abroad – including one in the United States where he brought up the issue of the need for the re-classification of the Zika disease to dispel fears that it was a concern in Anguilla – where there have not been cases for some years. He also reported on the expansion work at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and plans for a reopening ceremony next month. Mr. Richardson spoke about the work being done on the “Big Jim Building”, at Blowing Point, as a temporary Passenger Terminal which should be completed in two or three weeks. He was also pleased with the progress on the plans for the expansion of the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport. Mr. Connor was pleased with the recent discussions between the public and private sector regarding improving access to Anguilla – and other matters relating to the promotion of the island as competitive and highly recognised tourist destination.
