Dear Editor,
Marcus Garvey said: “A people without the knowledge of their history and culture are like a tree without roots.”
It would appear that our current government is intent on carrying out the threat that Mr. Bradshaw made so many years ago, and as the good book says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”
“What fruits?” you ask. First and foremost, was the deliberate destruction of the privately owned indigenous banks, and that’s just for starters. I can go on and on for this government is the gift that keeps on giving.
Though the Hubert Hughes government was responsible for bringing in the Central Bank under the guise of Anguilla’s failing economy, it was the Osborne Fleming administration of which Victor Banks was the Minister of Finance, who actually set the ball rolling when he secretly colluded with then Governor of the Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, to amalgamate both indigenous banks. Mr. Banks, your finger prints are all over this carnage and so is your face – this will hang around your neck like an albatross.
This government had two options; one put forth by the British government and the other by the Central Bank in St. Kitts. Our government obviously chose the lesser of two evils and decided to adapt the plan put forward by Dwight Venner and the Central Bank. Now it is important to understand that we were following the advice of a Central Bank, who oversaw the banks in the eight countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.
The Central Bank or any Central bank for that matter is the lender of last resort. It’s their job to see to it that the banks with which they’re tasked to oversee adheres to strict guidelines and is able to recognize signs of trouble and to take the necessary steps to avert catastrophes such as the ones we encountered. When that does not happen, then it’s dereliction of duty pure and simple. We continue to head in the wrong direction.
Our Minister of Finance’s reference to our upcoming 50th anniversary which he calls “Celebration and Realignment,” is nothing more than a joke. What is it that he plans to celebrate? The fact that he was responsible for the destruction of our two indigenous banks and with them our wealth? That he has without debate, signed into law a Banking Act that is injurious to us, an Act that will devalue our land that will then go to the highest bidder, and eventually turn us into paupers?
Is that what he plans to celebrate? Mr. Chief Minister, please tell us, what are your plans for us before you take your golden parachute and head for the Golden State?
As Minister of Finance, Mr. Banks had all the power in the world to make changes that he deemed necessary, changes for the sake of shoring up the banks to guarantee their solvency. We can only speculate why the Minister of Finance acted the way in which he did, but it was wrong. He continues to act as our Lord Protector, among other things.
On December 6 the Government went into the House of Assembly with the sole purpose of dealing with the Cap Jaluca debacle. Not satisfied with giving the operators of Cap Jaluca an EC $17 million tax break, they went on to sweeten the pot, all under the guise of saving three or four hundred minimum wage Anguillian jobs for four or five months and all without proper debate.
When the lone Opposition member Ms. Webster voiced her objection to the proceedings, the CM called a point of order and accused her of imputing that the process was corrupt. She had made no such assertion. It didn’t stop there. The Speaker got in the fray and basically shut the Opposition member down. She did the only honourable thing by walking out of the House.
It was ironic that the leader of this government, a man who was recruited by Mr. Webster, is now the very same person who seems hell bent in destroying all that Mr. Webster laboriously built, even as he lay in State. Shakespeare said: “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” The actions of this government exemplify the previous quote to the max.
It is imperative that all Anguillians far and wide take stock in what’s happening to our beloved rock. Those whom we’ve entrusted with our birth rights have played fast and loose with them. Where do we go to seek redress? As a British Overseas Territory we have a direct relationship with Her Majesty the Queen. Maybe they are again secretly wishing that we were under water. How can anyone justify what has happened to us?
Where have you seen a privately owned bank fail to issue a statement to its shareholders for three consecutive years? Where have you seen a report being released to the government where the Minister of Finance tells the people that there’s no smoking gun, and refuses to release said report to the shareholders? Are we being played for simpletons here?
And where have you seen the administrators of CCB’s pension fund stop paying its recipients and turning over the fund to the receivers? Where have you seen a minister of Finance tell said pensioners that it’s either pension or job? Where do we turn for relief? Where are the lawyers? There comes a time when it’s not about billable hours. Are we not our brother’s keeper?
As we prepare to inter the Father of the Nation, let us reflect on something that he said on his 85th birthday as he addressed the nation’s youth, “I am appealing to all Anguillians, old and young, to bury their differences and ill-will and to seek to be united again. Let us make this emerging nation a land of glory and opportunity, a land where one can say with pride that we are Anguillians: a land in which paradise has been regained, with God being our leader.
We seem to know what needs to be done, but there’s no one willing to break the glass to try and extinguish the raging fire. Until such time that we are able and willing to break the glass, may God bless us all and may he continue to bless Anguilla.
Tyrone Hodge
