On the weekly radio programme Just the Facts last Monday, members of the opposition noted that the Government of the day tends to shy away from complimenting the previous administration for anything.
All three members, namely: the Honourable Opposition Leader, Cora Richardson-Hodge, the Honourable Evan McNeil Rogers, and the Honourable Cardigan Connor, sanctioned statements made by each other in agreement that the current administration thinks it hard to give compliments where compliments are due with regard to any favourable work done by the Anguilla United Front government. Their argument is that whatever good the AUF had accomplished is never mentioned by the APM government, especially in areas where the APM finds it convenient to build on such accomplishments.
The first matter of contention was with regard to the three recently dedicated primary schools. Mrs. Cora Richardson indicated that while she highly commends the quality of finished school facilities that have been handed over the Department of Education, the recognition of the beginning of these projects under the AUF banner does not exist.
She observed: “We know the conditions we met the school buildings in on September 7th, 2017. In the face of that devastation, we know how difficult it was to get our children back in school one month after the hurricane. And it is a sense of pride for me to see these schools come to fruition.
“I feel that there is a short coming in the recognition of the work that has been done before. It is almost as if it just hurts them to acknowledge the work we have done. Being in government for one-and-a-half years, and being there to cut the ribbons for the dedication, is one thing, but at the end of the day it is what led up to the dedication, and that should not be ignored.
“So, no matter what you say or how you try to package it, you cannot pretend that the foundation was not laid by someone else-and that ‘someone else’ would be the AUF administration. The things that are coming in fruition today have had their seeds planted somewhere.”
So passionate about the issue was she, that she left no stone unturned to lobby the cause, saying: “To me, it is as if there is a degree of immaturity, and it is painful for them to acknowledge the work that took place from before. I don’t really see why it has to be like that.”
Mrs. Richardson-Hodge went on to say that in her view she believes it all has to do with the way the pre-election campaigning took place: “The promises that they could do better and produce these projects makes it difficult for them to acknowledge that they did not entirely do them. However, they inherited these things and brought them to a completion.”
The Honourable Mr. Connor weighed in on the issue, adding: “I call to mind the boxer Hector Comacho who once said, ‘When you are going into a fight you should never talk about losing because you would feel the pain.’ In my view, if this current government gives any form of credit to the previous government, it is almost as if they are giving in and saying to the public, ‘hey, they [the AUF] weren’t so bad after all.”
He admonished that each administration should build upon the successes of the previous one: “We talk about a fifty-year plan. We don’t know how many of us would be here for the next fifty years, but ideally we must think about moving the country forward.
“And it is not just one government,” he continued, “because one government would build a foundation, and if that government is in power for five or ten years, the administration that comes in and takes over must continue to build. In that way, down the road, collectively, the governments of Anguilla would have achieved.”
The Honourable McNeil Rogers voiced similar sentiments concerning the recent arrival of American Airlines last weekend, where no member of the previous government was in attendance to witness the inaugural flight and ribbon-cutting ceremony on the lawn of the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport.
Mr. Connor responded: “Again, what I would say about giving governments credit, is that once you start mentioning names, you can run into danger. One has to be very careful not to miss out names. And if we think of having an inaugural flight coming in from Miami, we need to also go back to 2003 and recall the challenges that the Anguilla United Front faced.
“Victor Banks and his administration were required to relocate residents from the Wall Blake area for the airport expansion. So, today with the inaugural flight coming in, credit must be given to whom it is due…Without the airport extension under the previous administration that inaugural flight could not have come in. A number of people made that flight happen, so you cannot choose to blatantly eliminate those whom you feel you don’t want to give credit to. Again, I say this government finds it very reluctant to give credit to the former government.”
Again, the Honourable Evans McNeil Rogers pitched in: “If you look at the extension of the airport runway to what is today, and if you are going to zero in on Ministers of Infrastructure, there is no way that such an historic occasion as the one that took place last weekend—which we all are proud of—could have gone on without the mention of Mr. Kenneth Harrigan, a longstanding Minister of Infrastucture. He should have received an official invitation to that ceremony. As a matter of fact, all legislators, past and present should have had an invitation to that event, because it was historic. There will never be another inaugural commercial American Airlines flight into Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport again.
At the Government Press Conference last Monday, the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure and Communications, Mr. Hayden Hughes was asked whether letters of invitation were sent out to members of the House of Assembly for American Airline’s inaugural flight ceremony.
He answered: “Letters of invitation were sent out to the persons whom we expected to be there. There are security concerns when it comes to the aerodrome, and there are certain limits. We had to ensure that while we wanted everyone to be there, we could have invited only 50 persons. We wanted the press to be there as priority.”
