Political parties vying for elected office usually promise greater transparency in Government. It is usually left to the electorate to determine whether such promises have been honoured. The Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM), in like fashion, promised greater transparency than the Anguilla United Front administration. Have they delivered?
The APM has certainly been prolific when it comes to sharing information. The public has been inundated with social media posts and photographs. Some say, if a stone has been turned the APM will use it as a photo opportunity. Has this flurry of posting and sharing of photos left the populace any the wiser as to substantive governance matters?
An initial pronouncement of the APM administration was that ANGLEC and the Water Corporation were to be combined to form a single entity. This has not occurred, and we now hear that the Water Corporation is to be dismantled and the production and distribution of water will return to the management of a department in Government. Is it clear why one plan has been discarded in favour of the other? Such information would amount to real transparency.
The APM insists that the Health Authority of Anguilla (HAA) is also to be dismantled and returned as a department under the Ministry of Health. This manifestation is long overdue as it was promised that it would occur shortly after the APM administration took office. The preliminary report of the committee established to manage the dismantling of the HAA, although often referenced as having been produced, has not yet been shared with the public. What are the pitfalls that have prevented the return of the HAA to the Ministry of Health, according to the Premier and Minister of Health’s schedule? Substantive information would be considered transparency.
What arrangement exists in relation to the construction of the indoor sports facility in Blowing Point? Is it a wholly privately funded facility gifted to the government and people of Anguilla, with no strings attached? Is it a public private venture, and if so, what is the relationship and was it subjected to the scrutiny of the procurement legislation? What involvement does the Department of Sports have in this project? Speculation will run amok in the absence of meaningful information. Pictures and progress reports do not amount to real transparency.
In relation to the Education Sector, the Education Minister has established a number of Task Forces to consider various issues in the Education Sector. Their reports have been regularly referenced but to date have not been shared with the public. Reporting on an activity without sharing the outcome of that activity is not transparency in any real sense.
The recent announcement of changes to the criteria for participation in the Miss Anguilla Pageant without soliciting input from the public, even informally through social media, has not sat well with some persons. Many persons, while welcoming the changes, take issue with the failure to seek wider input. What is essentially a culture shift, they feel merited wider input.
Is the consultative process promised in relation to the passage of Laws in the House of Assembly being followed? If it is, does this happen voluntarily or is the governing administration forced to submit Bills to public consultation after agitation by the Opposition? This must be contemplated when one considers the reality of transparency in government today.
Some persons are no doubt content with the flurry of information and photographs continuously being shared by the APM administration and consider that to amount to transparency. More demanding persons however, would welcome substantive information on governance matters and not what they consider to be merely superficial information. Such persons want transparency to be truly transparent.
