Anguillian businessman, Mr. Quincy Gumbs, used the opportunity of his birthday celebration to offer some timely advice to the Government and people of the island about dealing with Covid-19, tourism and the economy.
He was speaking during his birthday luncheon at the Royale Caribbean Resort at Little Harbour, on Tuesday, September 29. There, a sizeable crowd of invited persons had gathered to join him and his family to celebrate his 62nd birthday.
Mr. Gumbs described Covid-19 as the second most deadly disease in the world in the last one hundred years, noting that, as of Monday, September 28, one million persons world-wide had died of the disease. He continued: “The World Health Organisation’s representative said that this number, if anything, might be understated. Yet, it pleased the Eternal God to protect Anguilla from its lethal tentacles. But, let me warn us…, it is not done yet – and that Covid-19 will be with us for another three to five years. Most of the regions of our world are bracing for a second COVID outbreak and, if there is no change in the United States and the Brazilian policies, Covid-19 will have an indefinite stay in our part of the world – regardless of the development of a vaccine.”
In terms of Anguilla’s position, and other matters, Mr. Gumbs went on: “We do not know what will happen when we open our economy; but I pray that the God who protected the lepers in ancient Israel, will protect us as we open our economy and our borders – because that, we must do.
“Covid-19 has thrust the global economy in recession. So severe has it been to the destruction of the economy of small island states, that we will not be able to rebuild our economies. We must completely restructure them, starting from the ground up. In doing so, we must avoid the mistake at the beginning of self-governance. We must not rebuild our economies on foreign direct investment. It has failed and will continue to fail.
“I can say to you, emphatically, that foreign direct investment does not work. It puts our government and opposition at war. It divides our people; and it takes advantage of our employees. And so, by all means, we must avoid it…Our new economy must be based on our natural resources – whether our land, beaches, or our sea – what is in it or under it. We must come to the table and say: this is what we have; this is what we own and this is what we will build upon. And this can be whether we have joint ventures with the private sector – or a special understanding with our administering power. I beg us to stand, not as beggars, but with the few natural resources that God has given us and build upon them as we rebuild our new economy.”
Mr. Gumbs added: “In closing, let me say that we will need to have a completely new banking system. The old banking system, that was built to facilitate colonialism, no longer meets the needs of our region. We must therefore come up with a new banking system that understands the need to invest in our private sector and to help our small businesses in our countries.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in view of the fact that so many of us have departed suddenly, I want to warn all of us that we don’t have a long time to make these crucial decisions that will affect our lives; the lives of our children; and the lives of others to come. We must recognise the role of God in our lives; serve and trust Him; and let Him transform our lives. Let us do whatever we can to hasten the development of a new economy for our country, Anguilla, and the region.”
