Anguilla is struggling! Businesses on Anguilla are struggling! Anguillians are struggling! Residents of Anguilla are struggling! These refrains can be heard on the lips of most persons, as they try to eke out a living here in Anguilla.
Our circumstances are dire but, in many instances, our actions do not reflect that we view our circumstances as dire. Over the past two years Tourism, our primary industry, has been threatened by the presence of Covid-19. Many of us are still to adjust our behaviour to assist in limiting the impact of Covid-19 on our livelihoods. It appears that some of us still have not made the connection.
Our reliance on government to bridge the gap for the unemployed and the underemployed is misplaced. The government too is struggling and, frankly, appears to be in a worse position than many businesses and individuals in Anguilla. Our government has been surviving on handouts from the British Government – in essence the British taxpayers. Is there one project that we can recall, in the last four years, that the Government of Anguilla (GoA) rolled out without British funding? I believe persons will have difficulty identifying such a project. In fact, in recent times, the government has had to rely on the British Government for assistance with its recurrent budget.
The GoA has charged that the government agencies have failed in their duty to be accountable, and appears to suggest that their inability to be self-sustaining means that they are failed entities. One assumes that, using the same measuring stick, the GoA is also a failed entity. The GoA is certainly not self-sustaining.
There is little value in pointing fingers and playing the blame game, as the GoA seems to be doing with government agencies. Time would be better spent trying to find solutions to Anguilla’s current economic and financial dilemmas. What plans are there to revive our flagging economy?
Clearly, the implementation of GST is not considered to be the answer. Many persons have expressed the view that GST will worsen Anguilla’s economic and financial situation. We hear that it will increase costs for providers of goods and services, which will inevitably be passed on to consumers. Government, it is believed, will incur additional cost to ensure compliance with GST. Many believe that this cost will erode any possible gains the government expects to realise from the implementation of GST.
If GST is not the answer, what is? I am unaware of any grand plan being promoted by the government to fix our crumbling economy. Despite the openness and transparency being promoted by the government, and which are intended to be reflected in the weekly press conferences, meaningful information is still not within the public domain.
Rather than proposals with the potential to improve Anguilla’s lot, and that of Anguillians, we have heard proposals that are likely to stymie the efficient and effective functioning of government, government agencies and at least one private corporation. It is no secret that generally, the Anguilla Public Service leaves much to be desired in the areas of efficiency and effectiveness. Yet, it appears that the government is of the view that the return of some government agencies to a ministry, or department of government, is to be preferred to the autonomy they were intended to enjoy. It appears that the view of government is that any lack of accountability on the part of government agencies will be remedied by returning them to a ministry or department. Is the accountability of government ministries and departments so sterling that they can be entrusted with the stewardship of other services? The public is likely to say otherwise.
The need for reliance on the government’s Procurement Board – by government agencies and the Anguilla Electricity Company (Anglec) – seems to be a step that can only result in delays and reduced productivity. An assessment of whether the ministries and departments currently served by the Procurement Board considers that it lends to greater efficiencies, in terms of overall costs and productiveness, might prove useful. Does the Procurement Board really have the capacity to adequately respond to the needs of additional entities?
To my mind, the implementation of GST and the harnessing of the government agencies and Anglec are not the answer to Anguilla’s dilemma. If we are not careful these actions are likely to add to our dilemma. These and other actions, taken by government, appear to be plasters rather than cures.
Where does the answer to our economic and financial woes lie? If our elected officials have the answer, they need to share it. The people are beginning to despair.
