Corruption-free Anguilla

Secrecy

2009-07-04T09:28:00.004-04:00

Commenting has been made easier. To read any post together with all comments posted to it by readers, just click on its headline in the right-hand panel under “Archives”.

The comment form is at the bottom of the page, below all previous comments. You can post a comment immediately, without having to click over to another page. If you have a long comment, it is advisable to type it as a document and correct the spelling before you copy and paste it into the comment box.

Below your comment you will see “Comment as”. Select “Anonymous”, or if you wish to give your name select “Name/URL” and insert your name, before you send.

Clicking on a picture enlarges it for easier viewing.

Attorney-General denies having a copy of the draft new constitution. All Anguilla has wanted to see the draft new Constitution prepared by Lolita Davis Richardson. We have been waiting patiently to see what is in this draft.

I have been given a copy of what I am told is the final draft. It is filled with errors so I have my doubts. It contains barely one half of the recommendations of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission. It contains some proposals that Anguillians soundly rejected. It is severely defective in many respects. Mrs Richardson should be ashamed if this draft is what the Chief Minister presents to London. It needs to be cleaned up and corrected by a legal draftsman in the A-G’s Chambers.

In the 16 February issue of The Anguillian Newspaper we saw the story of Mrs Richardson officially handing over the final draft to the government of Anguilla. She handed it over to the Chief Minister, the Attorney-General and the Minister of Finance. Those three had been part of the drafting team that spent over six months reviewing and finalizing this draft. They were well aware of what was in it.

All that was left was for the Attorney-General to publish the draft. The comments of the public would be sought. Members of the House of Assembly would debate the draft and come up with their own recommendations. The Chief Minister’s Committee would meet and hold discussions with the British Negotiating Team. Looming high over this process is the need first to publish the draft. Before anything is finalized the public needs to be given an opportunity to comment. Most people will not have anything to contribute. But, they all expect to be asked first.

February passed. March passed. April passed. May passed. June passed. We are now in July. That is nearly a half a year since the draft has been officially presented. Nothing.

On Tuesday 3 July the Chief Minister held his weekly press conference. He spoke about going this weekend to Guyana for the Caricom conference. When he returns he leaves on Monday for London. He is taking a team to discuss economic issues. He is also going to discuss the new constitution. The Anguillian Newspaper of 3 July reports what he said at page 15, column 2:

“He reported that

while in London the

delegation would

meet briefly with the

Constitutional Review

Team to discuss the

new draft constitution,

copies of which would

be circulated shortly.”

That concerns me. What business does the Chief Minister have discussing a new constitution when it has not yet been shown to us the public.

So I wrote to the Attorney-General asking for a copy. I told him I want to comment on it. He has now replied. He writes that he does not have a copy. It is still with the Chief Minister’s office. That means that not even the Attorney-General has been given a copy. Not for the public to see, anyway.

My fear is that, just like the 1982 Constitution, we in Anguilla will see it one week before it comes into effect.

I wonder how the people of Anguilla will accept being treated in that way.

In the coming days, I will make my comments on the draft that was sneaked to me.

Judicious

2009-07-02T09:24:00.005-04:00

Random thoughts on writers’ block. I have nothing of interest to post on the blog. It has been over a week now since the last one. A house-full of guests is part of the problem. The devil has no chance to get at my hands now . . .

Another reason is that the political season has begun. The campaigning is going to bring the issues out into the daylight. The discussion will be much more effective and relevant to the needs of Anguilla than anything I can write on the blog. I am content to let the politicians, old and aspiring, debate the topics that interest us all. My contribution will not be worth two cents by comparison.

I have never in my life attended an Anguillian political meeting. They are real drama, I am told. But, I am not inclined to start attending now. Too old and cynical. The result is that I shall be unaware of many of the subjects of discussion. Unless someone is kind enough to drop me a line now and then to let me know :-)

Another reason for my writer’s block is that I am hearing that there are some major developments going on in the court. Both the Magistrates Court and the High Court have been producing some very important orders and decisions. Major events are playing out in that forum. The public knows nothing about them save for rumour. The court’s contribution to social development might as well be a play performed on a blacked-out stage. The singer’s mouth is moving, but the microphone has gone dead. There is no reporter who has the time to attend court and write up the happenings. No press-officer is employed to publicise what it is doing. There is a tradition that lawyers do not prepare press releases boasting about their forensic conquests. Most lawyers do not even receive the orders and judgments of the High Court in cases that do not concern them. Even though court decisions are public documents, they are dealt with as if they are private to the parties. Very few final judgments are posted on the Court’s website. Those few that are posted are out of date. I am reluctant to lean on any of my legal friends to beg them to scan and email me copies as they come to hand. What a waste of judicial time and effort. Such a pity, really.

Austerity

2009-06-22T15:05:00.005-04:00

Government announces civil service salary cuts as part of austerity measures. This circular letter from the Department of Public Administration to all public servants has just been sent to me for comment. I have not checked with anyone to make sure it is authentic. I take it on trust as the source is dependable. I have read it.

Department of Public Administration

The James Ronald Webster Building

The Valley

REF: EST/5/10

GOVERNMENT CIRCULAR NO. 4 OF 8 JUNE 2009

TO: Permanent Secretaries

Hon. Attorney General

Department Heads

All Public Officers

H E, The Governor (for information)

Ministers of Government (for information)

AUSTERITY MEASURES

Anguilla and by extension the Budget of the Government of Anguilla continue to be impacted by the sharp slow down in global economic activity. The Government of Anguilla has been adopting certain austerity measures in response to the global financial crisis. The current difficulty being experienced in meeting monthly expenditure has necessitated further austerity measures by Government.

On Wednesday June 3, 2009 Executive Council agreed to the following for a period of six months in the first instance, effective July 1, 2009, to sharply reduce expenditure:-

(i) the figures for travel allowance categories A to E will be as follows:-

($225.00, $175.00, $125.00, $75.00, $62.50 respectively);

Council further agreed that travel allowance categories should be continuously reviewed to ensure that officers are placed in the correct categories.

(ii) telephone allowance will remain at the current reduced level;

(iii) salary payments be reduced by the amounts set out below:-

a) Hon Deputy Governor, Hon Attorney

General and Public Officers in grades A-F - 10%

Public Officers in grades G-M - 5%

Public Officers in grades A-F who did not receive the 25% salary increase in September 2008 should have the increase actually received reduced using the following formula to determine the percentage reduction (10 ÷ 25 x % increase in salary actually received in September 2008 = % amount current salary to be reduced by). This is proposed exceptionally on moral grounds particularly as persons would have made financial commitments based on their prior salary. This exception must not be construed as giving affected persons any rights or benefits that they would not have otherwise accrued.

b) All elected Members of HoA - 15% (of ministerial and HoA allowances)

Speaker and Nominated Members - 5%

Special Assistants/Advisers/

Specialist Worker - 10%

Wage Workers - 5%

(iv) pensioners will not be affected by any reductions;

(v) officers retiring during the temporary salary suspension period will be afforded their retirement benefits (gratuity and pension) based on their current salary and not at the reduced salary;

(vi) all officers including “contract” officers will be subject to the temporary suspension of benefits;

(vii) the GoA will communicate with financial institutions to request that civil servants who require their loans to be refinanced be granted that service at no cost;

Council noted that the GoA cannot commit to giving back the suspended funds at this time but undertakes that if the situation changes positively and significantly, consideration will be given to either partial or full reimbursement of the suspended funds.

Public Administration acknowledges the historic nature of these measures and the personal sacrifice officers will be required to make. However, it is hoped that public officers will recognize the seriousness of the situation and understand that the measures being instituted come after considerable deliberation.

Public Administration continues to urge officers, especially at this time, to remain vigilant in the collection of government revenues, be professional in the performance of designated duties and practice sound work ethics.

------------------------------------------------

Lana Horsford-Harrigan

Director Human Resource Management

Public Administration

Copy – Honourable Deputy Governor

Here are my comments.

First, let me say that everyone in Anguilla would expect that in time of financial crisis and falling revenue deep cuts must be made, including cuts in salaries and allowances. But, it is elementary that such cuts can only to be made by consent, not by force.

The memorandum makes it clear, if only by inference, that the proposed reduction was determined on by the Executive Council without discussion with either the public service or their representatives. There is no question of seeking to obtain the consent of the civil servants whose salaries will be affected. They are being told of a decision that has been made. The decision is “effective July 1”, by which I understand that salaries will be cut from July 2009. The lack of consultation and the failure even to try to secure prior agreement is unbelievably inconsiderate and unacceptable if true. Tell me which employer in Anguilla could get away with informing his employees, without any prior discussion, that their salaries were about to be cut?

The third paragraph from the bottom, with the words “commit to giving back the suspended funds”, etc, makes it clear that the Executive Council believes that it has the right to take away the proposed salary cuts permanently. This is not guaranteed to be a temporary suspension, it is to be a possibly permanent cut in salary. That is contrary to section 7 of the Constitution of Anguilla. This letter infringes the “property rights” section of the Constitution, and as such is illegal.

One thing that is guaranteed to get me really vexed is when I see government not bothering to take legal advice on a matter of great importance and obvious contention such as this. This proposal is the wholesale cutting of salaries. That is a matter of great importance of obvious contention. There are civil servants who are already living at the limit of their means. There are house mortgages, car loans, university loans, vacation loans, and personal loans for furniture, all expected to be paid on time. Any reduction will call for civil servants to have to begin negotiations with creditors and other persons to whom there are obligations.

That is why I would contend that no competent department of public administration could possibly have circulated this memorandum without first having sought legal advice. And, I would go further and state that no lawyer in a West Indian Attorney-General’s Chambers could possibly have o-kayed it. Both contentions cannot be right. One must be wrong. The conclusion is that either the department took a risk, or the A-G’s Chambers was careless.

I know it is a long time ago, but government must retain files. About the year 1982 Verna Fahie was a young civil servant. She was sent by government on a Canadian scholarship to Barbados. After about a year, government wrote her a letter. They had just realized that she was getting a stipend from the Canadians. That was in addition to her Anguilla public service salary. That was considered too good for her. She was informed that after she came back to Anguilla they would begin deducting her salary until she had paid back the government of Anguilla the amount of the Canadian stipend. She protested that they were the ones that had organized the scholarship, and they should have known about the stipend from the beginning. She did not agree to any deduction from her salary. They went ahead and made the deductions anyway. She took the matter to the High Court. The judge’s decision was that salary is property as much as land is. Just as government is not allowed to confiscate your land without payment of full compensation, so they are not allowed to confiscate any part of your salary. They had to pay her back the salary that had been cut and pay her legal costs as well.

In what way is the proposed new cut any different from what was done to Verna Fahie?

Come on, public admin, get their consent first.

Fathers' Day

2009-06-21T08:59:00.005-04:00

I owe 243 of you per day an apology. No one has sent me any troubling or worrying news all week. I am not mad at anyone or anything. The result is that I have not made a single post for seven days. The statistics report I receive every Sunday now tells me that, on average, 243 persons per day visited this site last week. You would have been disappointed that I had nothing new to complain about. I am sorry. I apologise. I can only hope someone or something will upset me soon.

Meanwhile, it is fathers' day. My latest grandchildren are growing healthy and strong. Their mother is teaching them well. Here are a couple of photos of the entire family. The father is the pretty one.

Was it not Sir Francis Bacon who said, “He that marryeth and hath children giveth hostages to fortune”?

Viceroy Delayed

2009-06-14T09:06:00.006-04:00

The July “soft opening” has just got even softer. As recently as a week ago, 8 June, the Hon Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, gave a reassuring speech over Radio Anguilla about Viceroy being “well on the way to a soft opening in July". This, he said, will result in the employment of a number of Anguillian workers. Certainly, as of that date the Viceroy management had not informed him that there was likely to be any delay in the previously announced soft opening scheduled for 1 July 2009.

The original opening was supposed to be in 2008

To go back in time a bit, we will all remember that the original soft opening was supposed to have been in December 2008.

Then, they announced that the opening was delayed until 1 April 2009.

Later, that date was quietly changed to 1 June without anyone giving any explanation.

I wonder what the investors in apartments or villas made of these repeated delays and disappointments. The amounts of money they had to commit were huge. Contracts were signed and deposits made on the promise that the project would be completed before December 2008:

Prospective purchasers committed large sums of money on a promise of a 2008 opening

I wonder how many deposits National Bank of Anguilla financed? The risk is that some of these purchasers, badly hit by the current recession that began only after they signed the contracts, will not complete their purchases and will not repay the bank loans.

Then, in May of this year, a visit to the Viceroy website indicated that reservations were not being taken for June any longer. They were only accepting reservations starting 1 July.

This delay was a big concern for us in Anguilla. We all remembered that in December 2008, the House of Assembly had debated and passed the national budget for 2009. At that time, members of the Opposition questioned how government could be anticipating an increase in revenue as they did. The Minister of Finance reassured them with these words:

“He said the increase in revenue of $4 million over the 2008 figure was mainly expected from Stamp Duties resulting from alien landholders’ licenses to be issued to purchasers of real estate when the Viceroy project opens for operation in 2009.”

Now comes the latest disappointment. Viceroy has, as of yesterday, just quietly stopped taking reservations for July. Its website shows that the planned resort now has its reservations commencing in August.

Viceroy online reservations now permits bookings only as of August 2009

Those persons who made reservations for July are being assigned rooms at Cap Juluca and Cuisinart. They have begun to question what is going on:

Yesterday's complaint on Trip Advisor about a cancellation of a reservation

There has not been any public announcement by Viceroy or anyone in government, far less the media. I would have thought that the event would have made the news. But, maybe, no one in government or the media knows yet.

The Hurricane Season has already begun.

I am sorry to be the one to have to tell Victor, but our 2009 Budget has just taken another hit. There will be no revenue from Viceroy for the first half of 2009.

Another clip from the same Trip Adviser page

There is a further concern. How can there be any expectation that Anguillians who were banking on taking up employment with Viceroy in 2009 will hang around to see if the Hotel will really open in August? If I were paranoid, I would ask if it is possible that these last minute changes could be partly designed to ensure there are no Anguillians available for employment when they do really open? Or, is there some more serious systemic problem that we do not know about?

In my humble opinion, we will be lucky to see any revenue at all from Viceroy for the balance of 2009. In my view it is unlikely that there will be any Anguillians employed at Viceroy for the foreseeable future.

The Labour Department better start hiring an interpreter qualified in Tagalog.

Related posts:

27 June 2007: Slave Labour

28 June 2007: Hunger Strike

22 July 2007: Kor Realty Group

20 January 2009: Soft Opening

26 February 2009: Barnes Bay

15 March 2009: Meads Bay

29 May 2009: Pinoys

Reshuffle

2009-06-11T10:26:00.004-04:00

Chris Bryant is in. We have not heard much about Chris Bryant before 8 June. He was once a popular parish priest and preacher in his village in Wales. He could talk so good he decided to leave the church and go into politics. He won a seat in the UK Parliament with the help of Tony Blair.

What is his relevance to Anguilla? He is a newly appointed Foreign Office Minister in Gordon Brown’s latest Cabinet reshuffle of 8 June. He is also Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. He is being rewarded for backing of Mr Brown in his confrontation with Labour parliamentarians who want him to step down as PM. This appointment to the Foreign Office is not exactly that of Foreign Secretary. It is a junior government post. Ministers of State in Britain have under secretaries and junior ministers to assist them. He will be an assistant minister to Foreign Secretary David Miliband. He may have responsibility for Anguilla and the British Overseas Territories. In that case, he is one of the ministers in the UK government we will have to deal with.

Chris Bryant MP

There have been so many recent changes in the Foreign Office that I have got lost. I remember welcoming Gillian Merron just a few posts ago. Now, I see that she is no longer Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Office. PM Brown has promoted her and made her his new Minister of State for Public Health.

What got my attention was Mr Bryant’s nickname in the British Press, Captain Underpants. No, not the American children’s comic book. It turns out that the new Deputy Leader of the Commons was in the news six years ago for a less than ennobling reason. He was discovered sending photos of himself in his underpants to a man he had just met on an internet dating service. Not the sort of person you would have thought an embattled Prime Minister would be proud to be rewarding with such high office.

Chris Bryant MP looking for a date

You have to ask yourself the question, what will some men in politics not do for a little bit of extra sex?

Do you suppose that he would receive a rousing welcome if he came to visit Anguilla?

Would we roll out the pink carpet for him?

He had better hurry. I don’t think he will be minister for much longer.

Medical School

2009-06-08T17:25:00.005-04:00

St James School of Medicine. My attention was caught by a throw-away line in Victor’s recent speech, published a few days ago on this blog as “Golf Course”. Right at the end of the speech he said, “and, the long awaited Medical School is scheduled to open in August/September and will create opportunities for the apartment rental sector and other businesses.” That was it. No further explanation.

I went off to do a little research on the internet.

The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professionals would be the agency responsible for authorizing such a school. This Authority is the officially recognized institution for accrediting medical schools in the West Indies. It has existed since the year 2004 when the British General Medical Council abandoned us and went off to be fully integrated into Europe. The Authority has a website. I went to visit it. There are eight medical schools listed as having applied to the Authority for accreditation. Some of the schools have achieved full accreditation, while others are only provisionally accredited. I had a look at the details for each of them. I learned that these appear to range from No 1, the University of the West Indies to No 8, the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine. No 4 is the St James School of Medicine.

So, I went to the “details” page to learn what it had to say about the assessment of the Anguilla project. I found the following from the year 2007:

I note that Sir Graeme Catto and Professor ER Waldrond are the two persons who carried out the Anguilla assessment. Professor Sir Graeme Catto is well-known as the President of the General Medical Council of the UK. He is a Scottish doctor, Professor of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen, Vice-Principal of King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospital Medical and Dental School. Professor ER “Mickey” Waldrond is a distinguished professor of medicine at UWI. This is a very serious team. Their recommendation that the school be given provisional accreditation must be given weight. The St James School was obviously not considered by them to be a fly-by-night operation.

But, I note that this 2007 assessment is only provisional. The assessment team was to have visited in six months time to see how the school was progressing in setting up the facilities for the admission of the first class of students. Did they ever pay this second visit? I cannot find any report of their later assessment, if it ever took place.

I do a little more exploring. I learn that the St James School of Medicine already has a West Indian operation. It has functioned in the island of Bonaire since 2001. YouTube even has a video about it. I find a few grouches posting negative things on various blogs. I find some doubt that the qualifications they give are acceptable in various States of the USA. Then, I go to their website.

I find something odd about the banner at the top of their home page. I say to myself, “Hold on, is that not a view of Road Bay in Anguilla taken from South Hill?”

It may be a minor thing, but I wonder to myself why would they want to illustrate a web page about a school in Bonaire with a picture of a bay in Anguilla.

I ask myself, is the plan to close down the Bonaire medical school and transfer all courses to Anguilla. What would cause them to take such a step?

Is Victor right that this school is about to start up in Anguilla in September?

If so, where is it going to be?

How come I have not heard of any activity on the island relating to the school since provisional approval was given in 2007?

It is all a complete mystery to me.

Tragedies

2009-06-05T08:09:00.006-04:00

The TCI Journal is my hero. I try to read the TCI Journal every day. Each daily exposure is for a West Indian what the cathartic effect must have been in old Athens of attending one of the tragedies of Sophocles. One leaves the pages of the Journal drained of all emotion, conscious only that it is good to be alive and living in a different place. I do not know how I could keep my sanity if I had to put up with what the people of the TCI are going through. They are my second set of heroes.

Just today, I was looking at the several items published on 4 June. I have to urge you to read them yourselves to see what I am talking about.

I started with a letter from W Hurd on Freedom of the Press. His quotations ably illustrated the points he was making. I was particularly struck by Adlai Stephenson’s “My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.”

John Hartley’s Letter from London reminded us how the political crisis now playing out in London may affect the liberties of the people of the TCI, and us in Anguilla too, for that matter.

Diana de Gara’s heart rending call for Patience took my breath away, as all her writing inevitably does.

And then I read Shawn Malcolm’s account of the proceedings in the Supreme Court yesterday. Some 15 lawyers from London were presenting applications by two of the foreigners who were mentioned by Sir Robin Auld as possibly being implicated in paying bribes to Premier Michael Missick. They are trying to stop the Auld Report from being published. They claim that Sir Robin’s remit from the Governor was only to investigate politicians. He had no business mentioning their clients’ names. As Mr Malcolm points out, it is difficult to see how Sir Robin could have detailed the reports of bribes paid to politicians if he did not mention who is alleged to have paid the bribes.

May they all burn in eternal hellfire.

Golf Course

2009-06-04T20:41:00.004-04:00

Victor was on the radio today. I suspect he meant to make this speech in the cancelled House of Assembly meeting that should have taken place this afternoon. It is sufficiently important that we should not have to wait until next week's The Anguillian Newspaper to read what he has to say about the abandoned Flag golf course. [I suppose we all know that the watering of the grass started up about one week ago, but has now been discontinued again.]

Anyway, this is what he had to say. What do you make of it?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the Hon Victor Banks

Address on Golf Course Project

June 8^th, 2009

Fellow Anguillians,

Over the past twelve months the Government of Anguilla has been faced with a number of consequential impacts from the global financial situation. Foremost among these have been a shortfall in tourism arrivals; challenges to obtain and maintain financing for a number of tourism projects in the early stages of implementation; slowdown of the construction schedule for one major project at an advanced stage of completion; and the stoppage of all construction activity on one of our main tourism development projects, namely, the Flag Luxury Properties project known as the Tenemos Resort & Golf Course.

The latter has become the topic of discussion and debate in daily conversation; the print media; the radio talk shows; political platforms, and; other fora. I will hereafter refer to it as the Golf Course Project.

The Government of Anguilla has been extremely cautious in its approach to public discussion on certain aspects of the Golf Course Project negotiations in the context of the legal and fiduciary issues which are involved in the process. We have however on a number of occasions sought to involve members of the opposition both in the House of Assembly and meetings at the Secretariat with the intention of bringing some bipartisanship to the process. And to demonstrate our readiness to adopt that approach --- we actually supported at least two motions by the Opposition in the House of Assembly on the topic.

While this period may be characterized as a political year we feel that the issue is important enough to merit the participation of all sides of the political spectrum. We are also aware that the wider public has great concern for this issue and are anxious to find a solution. Our experience, however, has been that the issue is being used as a political football without due regard to the critical realities surrounding the ongoing delay in the resumption of the project.

It is in this context and at this strategic juncture in the negotiations that the Chief Minister has asked me in my capacity as Minister for Economic Development and Tourism to clarify a number of the statements that have been tossed about; explain the reasons for Government’s strong resolve to finding a way forward and outline the progress that we have made to date.

Since the third quarter of 2008, the Government of Anguilla has been in negotiations with the principals of the Golf Course Project to assist them in finding a way to overcome the challenges facing them since they were forced to shut down construction in early June last year. We thought that it was important enough to take a motion to the House of Assembly seeking support for developing an appropriate strategy for assisting the project in its efforts to obtain critical funding. We understood that this might require some unusual measures by the Government of Anguilla but we felt that the impact that the closure of this project would have on the island would be devastating. Where we stand today is testimony to that foresight.

There were many persons who perhaps, understandably, were not supportive because the impression was maliciously circulated that Government assistance meant a direct cash injection into the project. Preoccupation with quieting those negative concerns could have been in fact a lost opportunity to bring an earlier response to the challenges of the project. And unfortunately it ended up with the closing of the Golf Course itself including maintenance and watering. But of course that is water under the bridge.

Still pressing forward in February of this year the principals of the Golf Course Project as a result of the persuasion of the Hon. Chief Minister and other Ministers decided that they would devise a way to restart the project and solicited the support of a team of four local Anguillian consultants to work with them to develop a viable proposal. The outcome of this joint effort was a proposal presented to GOA on March 23, 2009. The proposal indicated that a suitable buyer/operator was identified but certain preconditions were required to get the process going --- the main one being the acquisition of the Golf Course improvements by the Government of Anguilla.

Let me clarify that when I say the golf course improvements I mean all the costs involved in converting the over 100 acres of lands into an operating facility.

To put the issue even more clearly, let me state that the buyer could not in the present financial market conditions get funding for completing the project because the inclusion of the golf course component would make the overall business plan unattractive to lenders. It is an accepted fact that, a golf course, in and of itself does not make a profit --- it usually requires a strong real estate component to ensure viability. In fact in the last twelve months of operations the facility lost approximately 3.9 million US dollars.

It is in this context that the team’s proposal included three possible options for the GOA to acquire the Golf Course. The justification for the acquisition of the Golf Course is based on the premise that only two entities can feasibly purchase the facility, namely, the buyer of the other components of the property because of the value-added or the Government of Anguilla because it would enhance the quality of our tourism product and increase its the overall revenue potential. Since the potential buyer/operator was unable to put together a feasible business plan to its lenders to include the purchase of the Golf Course facility --- the team presented the GOA with a structure whereby it could acquire the golf course improvements.

The three options presented to GOA were as follows:

· Purchase the Golf Course facility via a fifteen year loan with total payments of 83 million US dollars.

· GOA put together a public/private partnership to acquire the Golf Course facility via a fifteen year loan with total payments of 93 million US dollars

· The owner immediately transfers the Golf Course facility to the GOA for a nominal payment of $1.00. GOA then grants an incentive to the project by the allocation of tax revenues (the suggestion being accommodation tax) for a period of thirty years.

The presentation of these three options required GOA to indicate in a letter of intent its readiness to accept any one of them as a way forward. However, the presenters indicated a willingness to discuss any alternatives and modifications which GOA may wish to propose. You may ask the question: why would the GOA even consider any of these options? Let me explain!

I find it at this juncture useful to quote a part of an open letter to the Chief Minister from Mr. Sheridan Smith, CEO/Owner, Sheritons Development Inc. Mr. Smith writes and I quote: “If this is the only logical way to get this property restarted, and to alleviate the financial burden off the shoulders of the Anguilla people, some careful thought and action should be applied. We do not have the luxury of time on our side. The state of the economy is speeding down a slippery slope and the Government should --- in my humble opinion --- find the moral and political will power to implement a prompt settlement of this ongoing disaster.” Those are of course the views of an assertive and enterprising Anguillian who has built one of the most elegant and top class tourism resorts on the island. He concludes by writing and again I quote: “This is a matter of economics and should not be politicized.” I can assure you that Mr. Smith is not an individual who would allow anyone to put words in his mouth.

I have used that abstract from Mr. Smith to provide a backdrop for the concerns which led GOA to consider the options presented to us. Let me list some of these concerns briefly:

· The Golf Course was a major initiative by GOA to enhance our tourism product and remains a critical element of our business plan and promotion strategy

· We need to protect future jobs and business opportunities

· We must defend the interests of local creditors, vendors and contractors who are now owed several million dollars collectively and in some cases separately. Including the GOA.

· Anguilla cannot afford a “white elephant” after committing so many resources to its implementation.

· If we lose this golf course the next one is probably about two years from completion --- even so more than one golf course facility has a multiplier value for golfers in terms of choice of destination.

· If we do not find a solution in a timely manner we can conceivably end up in a long period of litigation which in terms of its complexity would exceed/dwarf the Cap Juluca matter.

· The local rental sector which was encouraged to respond to the needs for all kinds of accommodation is beginning to feel the pinch and if we do not protect their source of business they face a real threat of mortgage failures and foreclosures.

· Anguilla does not have a formal social safety net system that is institutionalized and funded to support persons who have lost jobs and business opportunities --- as a consequence there is a real chance of social and political instability as a result of the failure of large ventures such as this.

· The central government budgetary situation requires some form of immediate to short term stimulation --- because our key revenue streams are dependent on consumption which requires purchasing power.

· The project involves a number of stakeholders not the least among which are a number of international buyers who have chosen to invest in this project and Anguilla --- these homeowners/buyers need our support and assistance --- and they too are making sacrifices. They have not chosen the route of going to the World Press --- so to maintain Anguilla’s good name and reputation as an excellent place to invest we should not let them down.

While the foregoing list of concerns is not exhaustive there are a number of reasons why the GOA decided that of the three options it would prefer to negotiate on modifications to option three, that is, the immediate transfer of the facility to the GOA for $ 1.00 and the granting of an incentive to the project via the allocation of future revenue streams in particular accommodation tax for up to 30 years. Let me explain:

· In this option the GOA owns the land and improvements immediately without any direct liability. That means that we have no commitment to pay any loan.

· In this option the GOA pays only if and when future revenues are payable. In other words if the project is not completed the GOA owes no one anything. In the other two options GOA has a liability to pay whether or not the project is completed.

· This option represents an economic risk free transaction for the GOA because the owner on the basis of a negotiated long term management agreement with GOA will assume all costs associated with the maintenance and operations of the facility.

· GOA can also create a further revenue stream by charging a per-round “recreation tax”.

· The allocation of revenue from accommodation tax of the hotel operations is not the only revenue associated with the project.

· We are cognizant of the fact that everything carries a price and any quoted price can be negotiated. It depends on the commitment of all parties concerned to come to a successful and mutually beneficial arrangement.

On March 27^th a letter of intent was sent to Flag by the Chief Minister indicating our willingness to negotiate the third option and a process of due diligence slated to take over a period of thirty days began. When this option of purchasing the Golf Course was floated one of the Members of the Opposition who was encouraged to use his self-proclaimed influence with Mr. Lee Rizzuto, the owner of Cuisinart Resort & Spa came back with the report that Mr. Rizzuto was prepared to buy the Golf Course. Discussions with Mr Rizzuto and his agents by the Chief Minister and myself clearly confirmed that this is not the case. In fact despite strict instructions from Mr. Rizzuto and his agents that this was not so that member of the opposition continues to say on various media that Mr. Rizzuto intends to purchase the Golf Course.

I believe that to dispel this misinformation once and for all I should read a copy of a letter from the Senior Vice President & General Counsel of the Company to the Chief Minister on the matter. The letter was dated May 29^th and reads as follows:

“It was a pleasure meeting with you this morning regarding the golf course issues. You asked me to confirm with Mr. Rizzuto if he has any intention of actually paying monies to purchase the golf course. This will confirm that the offer Mr. Rizzuto made to Mr. Sillerman never involved the payment of any monies by Mr. Rizzuto to purchase the golf course. The considerations which Mr. Rizzuto will undertake are limited to the assumption of the operating costs and maintenance of the golf course. In the event agreements can be worked out by all parties, I hope this sufficiently clarifies this point. Please let me know if you require anything further. Sincerely etc.”

Obviously, that member of the opposition either mistakenly or deliberately is spreading the wrong information. But even from a basic business standpoint for Mr. Rizzuto to decide to purchase such a high price facility and then operate it at a loss for several years would defy the very principles which made him the successful entrepreneur that he is. Mr. Rizzuto himself has said this.

I therefore want to disabuse all listeners of the idea that that there is any one out there who has a feasible plan to purchase the Golf Course as a separate entity. I repeat that only the GOA or the buyers of the other components of the project can realize any practical benefit in doing so.

But even in the face of overwhelming evidence that GOA could benefit from this transaction. Technical officers in the relevant ministries were charged with doing the necessary due diligence in researching the matter. GOA employed two qualified international firms at great expense to review the purchase and management agreements and do an evaluation of the asset. This exercise took some time and the period for due diligence having come to a close the principals of Flag opined that GOA was reneging on its agreement and decided to suspend the maintenance of the Golf Course which they decided that at a cost of US$200,000.00 a month without any resolution in sight would represent a waste of valuable resources.

Nevertheless, Government continued its due diligence and negotiations and on Thursday May 28, 2009Executive Council instructed me to make a final offer based on a modification of option three. Rather than an incentive based on allocation of accommodation tax revenues for thirty years --- GOA offered ninety percent of the allocation for fifteen years and seventy-five percent for ten years. Added up this offer would amount to 21 years of one hundred percent allocation. We feel that this is a reasonable compromise for a valuable asset which GOA would acquire. In other words it is not a free concession but a transaction which includes the transfer of an asset in exchange for future revenues. As I said earlier nothing comes without a price and we believe that this is a reasonable cost to pay for a fully operational resort with a top class golf course facility.

The point must be made that this is not an unusual government transaction. Governments use revenue in the form direct payments and loans to buy goods and services for its people including the purchase of roads; airports; seaports; schools; hospitals; playgrounds golf courses and so on, to develop its economy. This is the same thing. But in addition GOA is acquiring a facility without any contingent liability if it is not successful. In other words if it does not work out we owe no one anything. But let me explain what this agreement triggers in terms of the project. Bear in mind that immediately upon signing, this document goes into escrow until the other cogs of the arrangements fall in place.

As soon as GOA successfully negotiates the terms of the purchase and management agreements, the other components of the larger strategy to restart, complete and operate the project are triggered as follows:

· Flag Properties settles its liens with its lenders

· A new developer/owner is brought in

· The homebuyers arrangements are affirmed or mutually modified if required

· A new construction loan is arranged

· Agreement is reached with the Contractor for past due amounts and scope of new work

· Flag Properties must come to a mutually agreed settlement of outstanding monies owed to local creditors, vendors and contractors, including GOA.

This last component as it relates to local creditors, vendors and contractors will be of major importance in the approval of the new owner/operators of the project. GOA remains committed to ensuring that Anguillians who are owed monies have been dealt with satisfactorily.

On the basis of the foregoing agreements which will shortly be approved in the Anguilla House of Assembly the principals of Flag have in good faith restarted the maintenance program for the Golf Course facility and have begun negotiating the other components of the deal. We feel that this represents significant progress and hope for a final resolution of the challenges of restarting this very vital project.

While I am on my feet I would also like to take this opportunity to report that the Viceroy Project is well on the way to a soft opening in July which will result in the employment of a number of Anguillian workers --- and the long awaited Medical School is scheduled to open in August/September and will create opportunities for the apartment rental sector and other businesses. The fiscal situation is challenging but we are encouraged that with continued progress on all these fronts we will experience some relief from the pressures that now attend us.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you all for your kind attention and wish you all the best as you strive to manage the many challenges which are affecting all of us in this unique period of global financial and economic crisis.

Blessings

Pyramids

2009-05-30T21:02:00.008-04:00

Anguilla’s own pyramids of the sun and the moon. I hate to be writing this. It might appear that I am delighting in the misfortune that has overwhelmed Robert FX Sillerman. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sillerman’s dream playground of a Greg Norman golf course and luxury hotel project in Anguilla has turned to ashes. The bankers have run out of money. Credit Suisse has too much money loaned to golf course projects. They appear to have said they will not put one more dollar into Flag. The project has closed down. It now lies abandoned. The hotel buildings and the villas are incomplete. Exposed to the elements, they are beginning to deteriorate.

Watering of the golf course first stopped in January. It restarted in March for a few weeks. It has now been stopped for the past two months. This is the dry season. No rain is falling. The grass on the golf course is dying for lack of water.

The tragedy of our abandoned golf course and hotel project reminds me now of nothing more than the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon at Teotihuacan. Any one who has ever visited Mexico City and who has not taken the tour of the pyramids has missed an experience that sears itself into the memory. I will never forget the feeling of exaltation I experienced as I first set eyes on those magnificent structures. The view from the tops of the two major pyramids is stunning. You are left in awe at the sheer extravagance and waste as you contemplate the amount of labour and treasure that must have gone into the construction.

Just a week ago, I was reading an article in the New York Times about a certain Bobby Ginn. His 1,900-acre project, called Bella Collina, was designed to hold 800 homes and a golf course. Today, only 48 houses dot the landscape, and just three are occupied. It is a ghost town. So is Tesoro. This is another golf resort opened by Mr Ginn near Port St Lucie. There just 150 houses sit on 900 waiting lots. A third project of his is the Conservatory in Palm Cost. It is even more barren. Only 5 of a total of 340 lots have been constructed. The banks are foreclosing. His properties are being sold off. Most of his projects were funded with loans organized by the same Credit Suisse.

Someone has now sent me the following photographs of the abandoned hotel and golf course at Flag in Anguilla. The resemblance to Teotihuacan is uncanny. Will the ruins last as long?

The fairways turning brown

The ponds drying up

Weeds growing in the sand traps

The greens turning brown

A small spot of green around one of the sprinklers

The river has run dry

Soon the forest will have reclaimed the ruins

Anguilla's very own pyramids?

These villas look almost complete

These villas look like they have a long way to go

The sense of desolation and abandonment is overwhelming

Even the heavy equipment appears to have bush growing up around it

Sillerman meant well for Anguilla. His vision, and the investment he made to back it up, helped pull Anguilla out of the barren years of the Hubert Hughes Administration. Does no one remember what it was like to be in business or to be looking for a job in Anguilla in the late 1980s?

If Sillerman’s money had been better managed by those in whose hands he placed it, no one would be pointing fingers at him now. He was badly served by his managers and his employees. He is taking the blame for everything. Even for not repatriating the Chinese. They worked for Ashtrom, not Sillerman. When Ashtrom posted cash deposits to guarantee their air fares, government spent it on foolishness. Now, when they are not fighting among themselves in their squalid quarters, the Chinese compete with Anguillians for scarce construction work.

So far, it is reported that US$750 million, three quarters of a billion dollars, has been invested in this project. Credit Suisse has refused to inject the remaining $200 million needed to complete the project. They say they have been burned by these expensive golf course projects. I am not surprised. Sillerman is blamed for not coming up with the money personally. Now, that is unfair.

Other than being too trusting, and not knowing how history has treated wealthy trusting investors in Anguilla, I do not know of anything that Sillerman has done wrong.

The real victims of this fiasco are Sillerman and the people of Anguilla. We are both the victims of fraud and mismanagement.

Related posts:

18 January 2009: Not Happening

Pinoys

2009-05-29T10:29:00.006-04:00

Were we naïve to believe that hotel development in Anguilla was really meant to benefit Anguillians? Now, why do I ask that question? There is a website that advertises jobs available for Filipinos. It is called Pinoy Abroad OFW Jobs. It is hosted by the POEA. I have been learning some new words. Pinoy is a demonym referring to Filipino people. As I understand it, OFW stands for “overseas foreign worker”. If I get it right, POEA stands for the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration. This is their advertisement that caught my attention:

Could someone tell me who is advertising these jobs in Anguilla to unemployed Filipinos?

The employment agency in question is Skyworld Business Merger Inc. Who is Skyworld? Who is it working for?

Did I repeatedly hear our government representatives assure us that the jobs of bartenders, bookkeepers, chefs, truck drivers, kitchen helpers, maintenance men, sales coordinators, housekeepers, sales staff, and waiters and waitresses, would be reserved for Anguillians? I thought that in future, only nuclear physicists and neural surgeons would be permitted to be brought in from overseas. I thought relatively unskilled jobs were absolutely reserved for all the youngsters coming out of school. Not to mention all the experienced hotel workers laid off by the half-full hotels, or made to work three days a week.

Note the numbers of positions offered in this one advertisement: room attendants, 20. Bartenders, 20. Bookkeepers, 5. Chefs, 25. Truckdrivers, 10. Kitchen helpers, 20. Maintenance men, 15. Sales coordinators, 10. Housekeeping staff, 15. Sales staff, 10. Waiters and waitresses, 30. I make that a total of 180 jobs on offer.

Does anyone remember the Chief Minister’s words at the groundbreaking ceremony for Viceroy? He said then, “We agreed to this project because we believe we have an obligation to find the wherewithal for all Anguillians to find something to do. . . . We will prepare the country for the youth of tomorrow and this is why we went ahead to agree for this project.”

Is this Philippine advertisement evidence of a sell out? If so, who has approved it?

Or, does Anguilla now enjoy such full employment that there is a desperate need to bring all these Asian workers to Anguilla?

PAC

2009-05-28T05:29:00.004-04:00

What else could Hon Edison Baird have done to get the Airport accounts? In late 2003 the government of Anguilla budgeted $60 million to extend the Wallblake airport. Fritz Smith, recently appointed Treasurer of the governing United Front political party, and nephew of the Hon Chief Minister, was the Project Manager.

Fritz Smith

With the expansion of the airport, several houses at both ends of the extended runway were condemned. Negotiations with the owners were happily concluded. New houses were said to have been built elsewhere on the island for some of the owners. Some people got land, others got money, and yet others got house and land.

In August 2008, Eddie Baird applied in the House of Assembly by way of a question to the Minister of Finance for an accounting of the expenditure on these replacement houses. The Minister promised to present it to him shortly. The accounts were not forthcoming.

Victor Banks, Minister of Finance

At a sitting of the House on 10 February 2009, Mr Baird complained to the Speaker that he still had not received the answer to the question he had asked.

A month later, responding to another question from Mr Baird in the House on 19 March 2009, Mr Banks put off producing the information until mid-July at the earliest.

Subsequently, in an open letter to the Chief Minister published in The Anguillian newspaper on 14 April, Brent Davis, leader of the Anguilla Progressive Party, demanded the same information. His first four questions give the flavour of the issues that are agitating the public:

“1) What was the initial estimated cost of the Wallblake expansion project?

2) How many individual payments were made to persons for properties such as dwelling houses, other buildings and lands?

3) Were there exchanges of Government lands with any individuals associated with the project?

4) How many persons are still in possession of their original properties, although they have already benefited monetarily or received lands in what should have been an exchange?”

We already know that a Freedom of Information Act would make all this delaying by the Minister impossible. If we had such an Act, Mr Davis would be able to demand the information. The relevant government officers would not be able to fob him off. If they tried to stall, a court would make the necessary order. The civil servant or politician refusing to comply would face imprisonment for contempt. Are there any additional tools available to members of the House of Assembly? What about the Public Accounts Committee?

The Legislative Assembly (Procedure) Rules 1976 are the rules and regulations that govern the House of Assembly. They provide for a PAC. Rule 66A explains that this is a Standing Committee of the House. It is supposed to be established at the beginning of each session of the House, and it continues through adjournments. The Rule says it consists of at least 3 and not more than 5 members. It is drawn from both sides of the House. Its chairperson is the Leader of the Opposition. It requires a resolution of the Minister of Finance to set it up, and the resolution must be approved by the House. That is not an obstacle. It would take a very careless Minister of Finance to reject a proposal by the Opposition to appoint the members of the PAC. If the Opposition does not demand a PAC, the Minister is probably not going to go out of his way to establish a watchdog to check on how he is performing his duties. So, it is up to the Opposition to take the first step, and demand the setting up of the PAC. They have never done so. There has never in the history of Anguilla been a Public Accounts Committee established to oversee the government’s expenditure of public funds.

The Committee has work to do. It is supposed to check that the funds spent by government have been spent for the purposes prescribed by the House. It has the mandate to look out for any expenditure that has not been authorised. It can demand to know what savings have been made elsewhere to enable over-expenditure in any area of the budget. It is mandated to make “an effective examination” of the public accounts. It can summon any civil servant to give information on any expenditure by any Department of Government. The Rules contemplate that the Committee may demand office space and secretarial help in carrying out its functions.

Rule 68 provides that any witness before the Committee may be examined in the same way as a witness before the Supreme Court. The Committee may hire an attorney to do the cross-examining if they wish. The witness is sworn to tell the truth. You know what that means? Any witness telling a lie is likely to face a perjury charge. The last time I checked, the maximum penalty for perjury was ten years imprisonment. Which civil servant who knows about some wrongful expenditure is gong to hide it and risk ten years imprisonment?

The House of Assembly is supposed to be the guardian of the public funds. The fact that it does not function at all suggests to me that members of the House have abdicated this responsibility that they owe to the public.

Edison Baird, Member of the House of Assembly

If the Opposition had done its job and demanded that the Minister call for the setting up of the PAC, Eddie Baird would not have to be begging the Minister for these figures. He would be able to summon Fritz Smith before a sitting of the Committee and grill him on what exactly was spent on whom.

Airport News

2009-05-24T09:23:00.005-04:00

With a Freedom of Information Act, Hon Edison Baird would long ago have been able to get the information he has been asking for. The purpose of an FOI Act is to ensure transparency and integrity in public life. So long as public servants and ministers can keep official government business hidden from view, corruption and waste is encouraged. If we had such a law in Anguilla, opposition member of the Anguilla House of Assembly, Eddie Baird, would not have to be pleading with the Minister of Finance to share with us the figures on how much money government has spent on re-housing the people displaced by the airport expansion project. The Minister would not be able to keep stalling from handing over the information, and copies of all the documents related to and supporting the information.

We have all been following the recent debacle in the British House of Commons. I wonder how many of us have recognised the important part that the Freedom of Information Act played in exposing the shenanigans of those parliamentarians?

In the UK, Members of Parliament are expected to live in or near London. If they come from a far-away constituency that means renting or purchasing a second home near Parliament. They are permitted to claim for the expense. A journalist, Heather Brooke, requested of the Speaker’s office copies of “second homes expenses” claimed by Members of Parliament.

Heather Brooke

The Speaker refused to give her the copies of the expense claim forms that she was asking for.

House of Commons

So, she took the case to court under the Freedom of Information Act. She won the case. The court ordered the Speaker’s Office to hand over the information. Before it could be officially handed over, someone leaked the information to the Daily Telegraph Newspaper. The newspaper has gleefully been publishing all the outrageous claims for expenses made by members of all three major parties.

Elliot Morley, a former Labour Environment Minister, claimed ₤16,000.00 in mortgage interest for more than 18 months after paying off the loan.

Fabian Hamilton declared his mother’s London house as his main residence, allowing him to claim allowance for his real home.

John Maples, deputy chairman of the Tory party, declared a room in his private members’ club in Pall Mall has his main home, allowing him to claim allowances on his real home.

Some MPs have been so embarrassed by these revelations that they have announced they will not run again in the next elections. Others have been forced to resign from official positions. The police are investigating to see if any crimes have been committed.

The press and public were up in arms at the efforts of the Speaker, Michael Martin, to suppress the information. Now, even he has announced that he will resign his office, the first Speaker in 300 years to be forced from office.

Hon Michael Martin

The Prime Minister has concluded that Parliament must no longer be permitted to run its own financial affairs. These matters will in future be handled by independent regulators. They will determine even what salary Members of Parliament will be paid.

In future, no sleazy UK politician will be safe from the details of his corruption being revealed to the public.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this scandal has created a revolution in how the British are governed.

All because of the Freedom of Information Act.

Who says we do not need such a law in Anguilla?

Related posts:

12 May 2009: Airport Costs

21 July 2008: Barbados

19 July 2008: FOI Act

4 April 2007: Freedom of Information

Airport Costs

2009-05-21T06:42:00.005-04:00

How can we ever find out before the next elections what money the government paid out in airport expenses? A couple of days ago, I heard Edison Baird on radio again. He was complaining that for the past several months he had been requesting information in the House of Assembly of Victor Banks, the Minister of Finance. He wanted an accounting of how much money the government had spent on re-housing the persons who had been displaced by the airport expansion project of a couple of years ago. I have heard him ask for this information several times in the House of Assembly. Each time, the Minister promises him that it will be forthcoming shortly. A couple of months pass, and Mr Baird complains again. Mr Baird has now explained why he wants this information. He has reason to believe that some favoured home-owners have been paid much more in compensation than their houses were worth. He is suggesting that there was corruption, or at least favouritism, in the way government largesse was dispensed in the airport expansion project.

You may well ask if this is the way the country is supposed to be run. Is it proper for a Member of the House of Assembly to be denied this information? No, of course not. But, what is equally sad, it seems to me, is that no one is discussing how this information is supposed to be got. This information concerns public funds. How public funds are spent is not confidential or secret information. It is supposed to be public knowledge. Mr Baird should not have to be begging the Minister to do him the favour of sharing this information with him. Mr Baird is not only entitled to this information, there ought to be the tools in place available for him to get it when the Minister stalls him. These tools are well known. They are (1) the Public Accounts Committee; and (2) the Freedom of Information Act.

This duet of tools is designed to ensure that how government spends public funds is published. The first is available only to members of the House of Assembly. The second is supposed to be available to all of us members of the public. We don’t seem seriously interested in putting these tools in place in Anguilla. To get a Public Accounts Committee, all that is necessary is for the members of the House to take the necessary steps to have the Speaker establish the Committee. To get a FOI Act passed, all that is necessary is for a Bill to be produced and passed into law. If the government won’t introduce a Bill, any member can do so.

Why do we not have these two instruments at work in Anguilla? Could it be because our elected politicians are not really interested in good governance? Is it that they are not really concerned whether or not public funds are being mis-spent? Am I just being cynical to think that their concern is that they are not the ones in power mis-spending public funds. In other words, might it be just that they wish that they could have been the ones with their hands on the levers of public expenditure?

If that is so, then Mr Baird will be quite content to continue to raise the question ineffectually. He will repeatedly suggest that there was some questionable expenditure. He won’t actually need an answer to his question. It is a political tactic, of ancient West Indian heritage, to suggest by innuendo that government has mis-spent public funds. It helps if the Minister adds fuel to the fire by not producing the information requested in a prompt and through manner. The idea is not to bring information out into the public. The real intent is to sow suspicion about the honesty and integrity of your political foes in order to gain a political advantage with discontented voters.

I would prefer it if the matter was dealt with seriously.

It is the political party that promises a Freedom of Information Act within 100 days of coming to power that I will support. It is the party that espouses an Integrity in Public Life Act and a Register of Interests for members of the House of Assembly, that I am looking for. It is the party that promises to establish the Public Accounts Committee to check on the way in which they spend public funds that will demonstrate their worthiness to govern this country. I suspect that it is only the Anguilla Progressive Party that will seriously place these on the agenda. None of the other political parties have expressed any interest in this issue.

These laws and procedures are in place all over the Commonwealth. It will take no time at all to produce suitable versions for Anguilla. A competent legal draughtsman, of whom we have several, could produce Anguillian drafts in weeks if not days.

Voting

2009-05-20T12:10:00.006-04:00

As an Anguillian, how do I get registered to vote? Getting registered to vote in Anguilla has never been easier. The law provides for a system of continuous voter registration. If you are over 18 years of age, and you are not on the voters list, get registered. Pricilla Gumbs is the Electoral Registration Officer. She has explained how it is done. Go and see her at the Passport Office, or telephone her, if you have any question.

Priscilla Gumbs and Chantel Ruan

If you are young, never voted before, but are qualified to vote, make sure you are registered this week. You never know when the next elections will be called.

Anguilla needs a spring cleaning. Sweep them out, sweep them out. It is time to sweep them all out.

The APP needs your vote in the upcoming elections.

Belongers Voting: 6 August 2007

Elections

2009-05-16T16:44:00.007-04:00

Who will we be voting for, and why? The people of Anguilla go to the polls sometime in the next few months. A few words on who we will be voting for, and why, are in order. Petty used to do most of the writing and explaining in this area, but since he is Supervisor of Elections, he has been keeping his oar dry. Let us take a first look at how we vote and why in very general terms.

The Anguillian system of representation and government is the Westminster system. This is quite different from the US Presidential system. Most of us are familiar with the US system from looking at TV coverage of the recent elections there. In brief, the US system can be described as follows. The people elect both the Executive and the Legislature. Everyone gets to vote for the President. They also vote for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The winner of the contest for President then appoints his cronies and hangers-on to his Cabinet. The checks and balance are that the Senate must approve his appointments to Cabinet. The system was deliberately designed by the first great US statesmen. It was the product of thought and debate, and has lasted for over 200 years.

The Westminster System evolved in England over a period of 900 years. In the days of the British Empire, it was transferred to all the countries ruled by Britain. It continues to live on in the Commonwealth today. This is true even in those countries that are republics which have replaced the Queen by a President. In the Commonwealth, the people elect representatives to a Parliament. The parliamentarians appoint the executive. The people have no say in who becomes Prime Minister or Premier or Chief Minister. After the supervisor of elections has declared which party has won the most seats in parliament, the party leader can expect to become the next chief minister. The party leader goes to the head of state, the president or the monarch, or the governor in our case. The party leader informs the governor that he or she has the control of the parliament. The governor appoints him or her as the chief minister. The chief minister appoints the members of cabinet from among the members of parliament. The executive thus sits in the legislature, and controls it from within.

It is a representative system that was wrung by the people through force and conflict out of the hands of the hereditary kings and nobles who claimed to rule by divine right. Unlike the US system, it was not the product of any thought or planning. To this day, there is no written British Constitution. Much of the practical working of the British Constitution rests on practice and convention. Vitally important constitutional principles are not laid down authoritatively in any statutory document. Academics and politicians argue to this day over what exactly are the basic principles of the British Constitution. As with all such accidental systems, it transfers to other countries very badly. The British Constitution works fairly well in practice in the UK. It has been a disaster for most of the ex-colonies who have adopted it without adequate safeguards.

An essential characteristic of the British Constitution is that it retains the forms of absolute rule, while insisting on democratic rule in practice. The freedoms of the British have been won by them through centuries of conflict, including the execution and forced abdication of kings. No such struggle of the people occurred in the vast majority of the ex-colonies. Coming so recently out of a system of absolute colonial rule, our traditions of democracy and liberty are weak. The result is that the executive branch holds all the strings of power, both formally and informally. There are few, if any, checks and balances. The Westminster system has been described as a dictatorship of the Prime Minister. Absolute rule has been transferred to the Prime Minister and his colleagues. This is so everywhere except in the UK, where the press, parliament and the people ensure practical limits to abuse. Most of the time, anyway.

With no checks and balances in our colonial Constitution, we the people are left with no remedy except to throw them out every five or ten years and hope a new lot will do better.

That is why I will vote APP this coming election. There is no alternative. If my favoured candidate’s party wins, and they do a good job for the first five years, I’ll vote for another five years. If they do a good job for ten years, it will still be time to change them in the end, by voting for a new lot of representatives.

In the absence of a whole raft of checks and balances, it is the only tool we have for insisting on good governance.

Swine flu

2009-05-15T14:32:00.007-04:00

Only healthy travellers pass through Blowing Point. Most sensible people recognised that this whole H1N1 Influenza A pandemic panic was a media-driven frenzy from the start. Mexico had the worst of it. A few hundred people were infected. A total of 26 died. Deaths elsewhere from infection have been minimal. As of Tuesday, total worldwide deaths stood at 53. The math shows there is a 1 in 250 or 0.4% chance of dying. A normal annual winter flu outbreak would cause more fatalities than this one has. The H5N1 avian flu episode last year produced more fatalities. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 killed an estimated 30 million. The 1957 pandemic killed two million. Even the 1968 pandemic killed a million. If people die from flu in the Southern hemisphere this coming winter, and many thousands will die, the betting is it will be from the common flu, not swine flu.

Just as the epidemic everywhere in the Northern hemisphere is in decline, we in Anguilla have to show our solidarity with stupidness and join in the frenzy.

Have you seen the new form they give you to fill out when you land in Anguilla? I understand this form is part of a regional initiative, and was not invented in Anguilla. It looks like this:

As you hustle with 40-odd other passengers for a place in the queue at Blowing Point, an Immigration Officer appears. She tells you that you must fill out this swine flu questionnaire. You have to do it before you get to Immigration. So, you fill it out while standing and being jostled in line. You take it to Immigration. The officer looks at it. She gives it back to you. She tells you to hand it in to Customs. Customs looks at it, and tosses it aside.

Or, you are among the hundreds of visitors from St Martin for the Regatta last weekend. You are arriving at an “upscale tourist destination”. So, you have arrived on your mega yacht at Crocus Bay. Immigration makes everyone get off the boat. You take the dinghy to the beach. You find a taxi to take you to Sandy Ground. There, Immigration makes everybody fill out the form. By now, God alone knows how many people you have infected. Yes, I know you are not supposed to land at Crocus Bay, but they do.

Didn’t the designer of this form realise I am supposed to read it before I fill it in? Did he really intend to put that final notification at the end of the form for my information? It says clearly that if I answer “Yes” to any part of the questionnaire, I am to be isolated. “Isolated” means I am to be separated from my family that I am travelling with. I will be taken away, by force, if necessary. I will then be put through various Hospital procedures. It may take days, if not weeks, before I am allowed to go about my business or enjoy my holiday. In those circumstances, which fool would answer yes to any one of the questions? Which one of us is going to admit to ever having visited Mexico? I would suppress my cough even if I had to choke. Who would be so stupid as to admit to having sneezed in the past year.

Faced with the information at the bottom of this form, I would deny I had a fever anytime in the last ten years. Breathing would never have been easier than it is now. I would not admit to having had a sore throat since I was a child.

Whatever they intend to do with the hapless traveller who answers “Yes” to anything on this form, I think they should keep that last bit of information confidential. Let the officer spring it on him in ambush if he has answered “Yes”.

Next thing, we will be banning imports of pork meat.

Just because this is a government form does not mean that it is backed by law. It is not an Immigration form. Nor is it a Customs form. It is a hastily made up medical form. Has anybody even checked if it has the force of law behind it? Do I commit any offence if I fill it in falsely?

I seriously doubt it.

Miseducated

2009-05-12T17:11:00.008-04:00

Comprehensive Education Review Team preparing report for Government. I learned quite by accident that there is a Comprehensive Education Review Team. They are examining the state of comprehensive education in Anguilla. They are interviewing people, and examining the facilities at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School. They will prepare a report for government. I was grateful to the Team for giving me an opportunity recently to address them. I offered them my views on Anguilla’s secondary school education system. I told them exactly what I think. This, in summary, is what I said:

Based on my exposure to Anguilla’s sole high school, in my estimation fewer that 20% of this year’s Form VI graduates will enter the work force, or go on to an institution of tertiary education, able to either write, or to express themselves verbally, anywhere near a Form VI standard. The exceptions are all the children of professionals. I assume their parents put pressure on them to achieve and to excel in school. Those children who do not come from equally ambitious backgrounds are not being helped by the present school system. I had not realised that the Comprehensive Education System, as it works in Anguilla, is designed to ensure that only the children who are the beneficiaries of additional home schooling would reach an acceptable standard of basic education on graduation from the High School.

I am conscious that the secondary school system is not the only, or even the main, culprit in this failure shown towards the students of Anguilla. I understand that the children’s education problems start long before they reach the High School. It is unfair to expect the High School staff to overcome by themselves, and without resources, the obstacles placed in the way of the education of our young people. They are the result of wider social problems.

Parents, who were too busy to read to them when they were very young, are partly to blame.

The primary schools are graduating students who cannot read or write.

Most Anguillian school children are latch-key children. There is frequently no adult present when the students come home after class to encourage them to study and prepare. Too often, the only real family is the neighbourhood gang.

Drugs, alcohol and pornography on the internet are pervasive. These adversely impact young persons in Anguilla when they are left to their own devices.

The paucity of the facilities at the High School is noticeable. The school library serves as the Form VI students’ lounge. The books are in the mess you would expect. I have not asked, but it is unlikely that any student, other than a sixth former, would dare to enter the school library.

The public library is no substitute. It is a place for students to go to gossip and to play computer games. The different reading rooms in the library are not invigilated when there are students in them, as they ought to be. The public library of Anguilla is distinguished mainly by the absence of worthwhile literature and reference works. There has been no attempt to build up a permanent collection of regional and international classics. There has for years been a culture among the public library staff that if a book is old then it must be deemed soiled and fit only to be disposed of. Anguillian children are too precious to be made to handle a used book. Several of my students have told me that they have not borrowed a book from the public library to read for either pleasure or instruction in over ten years. Their explanation is that there are no books worth reading in the public library.

There is no invigilated study room in the school, as there ought to be, for students who have no class to sit quietly and study. The result is that there are groups of boys and girls hiding in corners of the schoolyard laughing and chatting at all hours of the day.

There is no supervision of the students in the school yard during breaks or at lunch time. I understand the Teachers’ Union is opposed to it. I have not asked Emma if it is true. This abandonment of the students encourages them to engage in bad behaviour. It reinforces their perception that there are no consequences for bad behaviour. Foul language on the school grounds is commonly overheard, among boys and girls. There is no one to report their misconduct.

Even if anyone did report unacceptable behaviour, there is in practice no penalty of any consequence. There is, eg, no invigilated room for misbehaving children to be made to stay back after school in punishment. Class control is not managed by rules or procedures, but by the force of the individual teacher’s character. Teachers do their work in terror of some abusive parent storming into the school and assaulting them.

Many of the teachers I meet are disillusioned and disgruntled. The teacher’s common room is a dump. I have never seen more than five or six teachers in it at lunch time or at any other time, except when the Principal holds briefing meetings. The explanation I have been given for its present dilapidated state is that it is old, about to be replaced, and not worth repainting.

In my humble opinion, there is no necessity for the education authorities to compound all the wider social faults and defects in Anguilla by providing an education system that seems designed to ensure that the present generation of Anguillian students will not be able to hold their own when they grow up and go out into the real world.

In my humble opinion, the comprehensive education system of Anguilla, as I have found it, is a major disappointment. Anguilla’s children are being cheated out of a decent secondary education. A majority of Anguillian students leave the ALHCS essentially uneducated. Radical reform is needed. I am not qualified to make recommendations on how to reform the system. I will leave that for others who are more qualified than I am.

I was pressed by the team at the end of the interview to find something positive to say about the system. I got the impression they wanted a balanced opinion from me. Sorry, I don’t do balanced opinions. I am only capable of delivering frank opinions. Let the mealy-mouthed equivocators produce the balanced opinions. Anguilla has more than its fair share of those types. There will be plenty of apologists to pick and choose from. In my mind, the situation is stark, and crystal clear.

Parents, schools, and students of the 1960s and 1970s had fewer resources than those of today. Yet, the students left the education system highly educated. They left both disciplined and highly motivated. Those were the Anguillians who built the Anguilla of today that we know. The principal of the school and her team face an impossible task in producing replacements who will be equally highly educated and motivated. The existing secondary school system has totally failed the majority of the present-day graduates. Most modern-day Anguillian High School graduates are not qualified to go on to college. They are not even fit to fill the position of junior clerk in any office. They are essentially illiterate and unemployable. Except for my students, of course.

Sorry if it sounds too harsh a judgment. I tried hard, but I could not find anything more positive to say.

Warnings

2009-05-09T10:25:00.005-04:00

I receive my first ever warning from the police. There is a popular remedy or relief available to any person in Anguilla who has a complaint against someone else. You make a report at the police station of your concern, perhaps that a crime has been, or is about to be, committed. If you do not want the person prosecuted, you ask the police merely to visit the accused and warn him not to repeat his conduct. It is a simple-to-use procedure. The police love it. It requires no police investigation. It can be carried out quite quickly. It probably is a very useful process in preventing the commission of more serious crimes.

So, what was my alleged crime? The warning was to the effect that Lolita Richardson had made a formal complaint at the Police Station. She had complained that I had slandered her name on the Elkin Richardson radio show, “To the Point”. I was warned. I thanked the police officer who delivered the warning to me.

And, to think that I was under the impression that what I said on the radio programme was meant to preserve her name. This is my recollection of what happened.

On the Friday, Elkin had called me on the telephone. He had told me that he had obtained a copy of the proposed new constitution for Anguilla. I have previously written about how anxiously we in Anguilla were awaiting our first viewing of this document. See the links below.

Regular readers of this Blog will recall the sequence of events. In the period January to August 2006, the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission had worked with the Anguillian public on preparing recommendations for the reform of the Constitution of Anguilla. In August 2006, the Commission had published its Report. Subsequently, the Chief Minister had established a Chief Minister’s Committee. This had spent several months reviewing and discussing the Report. After much discussion, the Committee had come up with a number of amendments of its own. They had then decided that they would prefer to see in print what the finished product of what they had approved would look like. A written draft of the proposed new Constitution would make it easier to discuss the recommendations with the public. They would have something in their hands that they could refer to.

The Chief Minister had consequently given Lolita Richardson her instructions. She was to prepare a draft Constitution. It was intended for circulation to the public and for general discussion. She was to incorporate in the draft (a) the recommendations of the Commission, together with (b) such amendments as the Chief Minister’s Committee had approved. The main amendment that the Chief Minister’s Committee had come up with was that Anguilla should go for “full internal self-government”. Most of the other amendments were relatively minor.

Mrs Richardson had proceeded to prepare an initial draft constitution. This draft had been further reviewed by the Chief Minister’s Committee for several more months. No member of the public saw a copy of it during the several months it was under discussion. The Committee, we must assume, had made a number of further amendments to Mrs Richardson’s draft. Eventually, as we understood it, Mrs Richardson had incorporated the corrections. She had delivered a finished product to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister had called a press conference. He had with much fanfare officially handed it over to the Attorney-General. The A-G’s instructions were to publish the draft to the public for discussion.

Since the hand-over some months ago, we have been waiting for the promised publication. To this day, you cannot obtain a copy of the draft that was handed to the A-G. It must be some sort of State secret. So, I was excited about the opportunity I was being offered to see it. Elkin asked me if I could study it and appear on his show on the following Monday and give my views on it. I was happy to agree. [This call-in radio programme on the radio station Kool FM takes place every Monday evening at 7:30 pm, approximately. There are often interesting speakers on the programme. You should tune in. The link above even permits live streaming to anywhere in the world].

I collected the document from Elkin. He told me he had got it from an official source. He had been assured that it was the final draft that the A-G was supposed to publish to the public. I read it as promised. I compared its contents paragraph by paragraph with the 2006 Report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission. On the following Monday evening, I turned up at the radio station. That Monday evening, I duly gave the listening public my impressions about the document. As I recall, they were, and are, principally these:

1. The draft was very disappointing in that it contained less than half of the recommendations made by the Commission and accepted by the Chief Minister’s Committee.

2. The draft was objectionable in that it included the exact opposite of some of the recommendations made by the Commission and approved by the Committee.

3. The draft could not be a final draft. It was filled with so many typing errors, grammatical mistakes, and contradictions, that it must be a very early, uncorrected draft. It could not be the finished draft. The document appeared to be really a very amateurish effort. I do not believe that Mrs Richardson would have permitted such a rough draft to be submitted to the A-G’s Chambers as a finished product. Another reason why the document I was shown could not be a finished product was that the initial draft had gone through month after month of discussions among the Chief Minister’s Committee. This Committee had included some of the most powerful and some of the most highly educated government officers in Anguilla. They would have noticed the obvious typing errors, and corrected them before the document was handed over to the A-G. All this I explained on the radio programme.

Now, tell me what was so objectionable in what I said!

Elkin tells me that he received a similar warning from the police as the one I got. His theory for this bizarre incident is that Mrs Richardson could not have heard the radio show herself. She must have missed listening to it, and relied on a skewed account of it given to her by some mischief-maker.

I accept that as a possibility. I forgive Mrs Richardson. But, she should know by now not to believe everything she is told in Anguilla.

Related Blogs:

New Constitution: 18 April 2009

Constitutions: 18 December 2008

Constitution: 2 December 2008

Shallowness: 7 June 2008

Big Chief: 29 May 2008

Checks & Balances: 28 May 2008

Garden Path: 26 May 2008

Open Mic: 24 May 2008

Ambulances

2009-05-06T05:48:00.003-04:00

Does Anguilla have an effective ambulance service? Recently, National Bank of Anguilla and Caribbean Commercial Bank donated EC$80,000.00 to the Health Authority of Anguilla for the purchase of a new ambulance. This new ambulance was intended to replace the two old ones that frequently failed to start, or broke down during an emergency.

The need was obvious. As Dr Bonnie Richardson-Lake, PS Health Department, said at the cheque presenting ceremony,

“Everyone in Anguilla needs to feel that they have access to good quality care, and that in case of an emergency they would be well looked after, thus making them feel more secure.”

The cheque presenting ceremony

More recently, Cap Juluca Hotel handed over an even newer ambulance to the Health Authority. It cost US$85,000.00.

As CEO of the Health Authority, Darlene Baptiste, said at the handing over ceremony, she was grateful for the partnership between the hotel and the Authority,

“which provided an opportunity to provide optimum health-care services to the people of Anguilla.”

According to the newspaper report, Chairman of the HAA, Dr Franklin Lloyd, said,

“the provision of the ambulance was another demonstration of the Authority’s determination to continue to improve the quality and timeliness of health care. He called on the Emergency Medical Technicians to function at all times as dedicated professionals with efficiency, commitment and compassion, noting that although the ambulance was well equipped, it was for them to operate it at a high level to ensure quality service.”

The handing over ceremony

At the same handing over ceremony for the new Cap Juluca ambulance, the Director of Medical Services, the Rt Hon Dr Sir Kennedy Simmonds spoke. He said that,

“the state-of-the-art ambulance, coupled with the ongoing updating training of the Emergency Medical Technicians, would help the HAA to deliver more effective and efficient first emergency response service to the people of Anguilla.”

Cap Juluca's new ambulance

You would think, with all that new equipment, not to mention the high hopes and promises expressed at the two handing over ceremonies, Anguilla’s ambulance and emergency service would be one of the best in the West Indies.

Listen to Darren Augustus’ story. In the calypso world he is known as The Mighty Tornado. About two weeks ago, on 24 April, he ate lobster. It was meant to be his birthday celebration. It turns out he had developed an allergy to lobster. By the following day he had become violently ill. His limbs had swelled up. He could not walk. He was vomiting, and suffering from diarrhea. His head was spinning.

He did what you or I would have done. He telephoned the hospital for an ambulance to come and rush him to the hospital.

The response? “Sorry, we have no gasoline for any of the ambulances.”

Fortunately, his girlfriend could drive. She got him to the hospital, no thanks to any of the three ambulances then in the service of the HAA.

Read it, and weep for us. Clearly, Anguilla at present has no effective ambulance service. Regardless of the amounts of money donated and invested.

My recommendation is that whoever is in charge of that department ought to be fired, for cause, forthwith.

I only waiting to hear the calypso!

Measures

2009-05-04T14:16:00.006-04:00

Weights & Measures. Why is there no government officer in Anguilla charged with checking annually the weights and measures used by merchants on this island? I know that the Weights and Measures Act says that there should be Inspectors of Weights and Measures who are supposed annually to go around and check on these matters. There is one, and sometimes several, in each other island of the West Indies. We must be the only one where the consumer is so blatantly exposed to short changing and overcharging.

I challenge anyone in government to show that any inspector has actually been appointed and trained to perform the statutory duties. The Act says that the inspector is an officer in the Accountant-General’s office. I emailed our Accountant-General and asked her if any had ever been appointed in Anguilla to her knowledge. As the Deputy-Governor is in charge of public service appointments, I asked him as well. Needless to say, neither has responded to my enquiry.

Take one of those little red one-gallon gasoline canisters sold at all the hardware stores in Anguilla. They are made in the USA, and I would expect they measure 1 US gallon. They state they can hold 1 gallon, 4 fluid ounces. One gallon would be up to the “safe” full mark. The extra four ounces, I expect, would be if you fill it up to overflowing.

One US gallon is 128 US fluid ounces. One Imperial gallon is 153.7 US fluid ounces. The gas stations of Anguilla are obliged by the Weights and Measures Act to sell gasoline by the Imperial gallon. If they are doing so, and if you fill one of those little made-in-the-USA red canisters, you should get considerably less, nearly 20% less, than one Imperial gallon in it.

One of my correspondents conducted a little experiment. He went to three of the seven gas stations on the island. He filled his canister, paid for it, and emptied the contents into his car. He went to the next gas station and repeated the process. Each time he filled up the canister he checked the amount of gasoline alleged to have been sold to him. It should have been approximately .8 to .9 of a gallon in each case. He made a note of how much gasoline the machine said he purchased. He tells me that he found that each of the three gasoline dispensers stated that he had bought more than one gallon. One stated that he had purchased as much as 1.4 gallons, another 1.2 gallons. Needless to say, that is what he was charged for. None of the three gas stations recorded or charged for the correct volume dispensed.

It is conceivable that some of the gas stations on Anguilla have begun to use the US gallon instead of the Imperial gallon. But, that is unlikely for two reasons. One, it is against the law. Two, these things are standardized. In any event, why would one gasoline dispenser state that he had purchased 1.4 gallons, while another stated 1.2 gallons?

The results are sufficient to indicate to me that there are no standard measurements enforced in the sale of gasoline in Anguilla. That is what the Inspector of Weights and Measures is supposed to be checking on for our protection.

In the case of the gas station falsely claiming payment for 1.4 gallons for filling the gas canister, in particular, the proprietor should be prosecuted and his licence taken away from him. But, we need to have a properly trained inspector appointed first.

With our complete indifference in Anguilla to the need to hold to proper standards, and our cow-boy attitude to the sale of goods and services generally, in my opinion the Anguillian consumer must be one of the most exploited in the West Indies.

Integrity Law

2009-04-28T06:47:00.011-04:00

Just passing a law does not achieve much. We need integrity legislation in Anguilla. No thinking person in Anguilla doubts that proposition. An Integrity in Public Life Act is the law that would, among other things, require members of the House of Assembly, members of Executive Council, and other senior public officers, to state on oath their assets and liabilities. They would have to make regular filings and declare gifts given to them while in office. There would be severe penalties if they lie or fail to make the declaration. The Anguilla Constitution 1982 has set up a Register of Interests. By itself, the Constitution does not achieve anything to ensure integrity in public office. There needs to be a law to give effect to the constitutional provision, to set out the details of the mechanism.

The official explanation of the advantage of such a law is that it forces public officers to declare their interests when they meet to discuss policy, make decisions, and pass laws. That is, it makes people think of conflicts of interest. That is polite mumbo jumbo. The real reason for the law is that the assets of the public officer in question becomes public knowledge. If he acquires sudden wealth while approving licences and permits, questions are likely to be asked. The risk of public exposure and even prosecution will give the conscience a boost. Such a law is an aid to the personal integrity impulse, so to say. It is like the Vitamin B12 injection doctors give to the elderly. It boosts our resistance and inoculates us against infection.

So, it should be no surprise that Anguillians were nearly unanimous in 2006 when the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission sought their views on the subject of the need for integrity legislation. Paragraph 135 of the final Report contained the recommendation of the Commission. There must be strengthened anti-corruption provisions in our proposed new Constitution. An appropriate law, including severe penalties for any evasiveness or falsehood, must be put in place without delay.

With any luck, we will get the new law in due course. When we do so, that will not be the end of the matter. There is the little matter of how the Act is drafted, and how it is amended in the House of Assembly. It can be watered down to meaninglessness. Turks and Caicos Islands has such an Act. It has been a complete waste of time. The politicians have ensured that it is no use at all. I was reading all about it in a recent article in Caribbean Net News. This is the gist of the TCI integrity legislation story:

2006 September – The Leader of the Opposition presents in the House of Assembly an anti-corruption Bill. It is based on legislation that had been effective in Trinidad. This Bill is never debated. It is killed in the House by the incumbent party.

2008 January – The FCO provides a draft Integrity in Office Bill to the A-G’s Chambers. He is told to prepare it for passage through the House of Assembly. The draft duly goes to Cabinet and then to the House. It will provide that officials must periodically declare their assets. They must declare gifts of $5,000.00 and up. The Commission will consist of five members. It is empowered to investigate and adjudicate complaints leveled against government office holders. The Commission will have the power to enforce sanctions against an offending official. He can be fined, assessed jail time, and even be forced to step down from office. There will be a judge from a Commonwealth country on the Commission to ensure independence and impartiality.

2008 May – In Committee Stage, members of the governing party make amendments. These are designed to water down the Bill. The fines and jail terms are reduced. The value of the gifts that have to be declared are raised to $10,000.00. The requirement for a Commonwealth judge is replaced by a one for a TCI judge. The TCI House of Assembly passes the Bill. The Governor assents to it. The Commission is never put in place. Apparently, no TCI judge willing to serve has ever been found.

2009 April – The Auld Commission comes out with its scathing interim report on corruption in TCI. An amendment to the law is proposed at a sitting of the House of Assembly. It would revert to a Commonwealth judge. It would return to the $5,000.00 standard. The former Ministers who have now resigned oppose the amendments. But, with the support of the Opposition, the amending Bill is passed.

The same thing could happen in Anguilla. Without vigilance, an ineffective piece of integrity legislation could be drawn like wool over our eyes. It is only if there is a genuine and heart-felt demand by the public for integrity legislation that the politicians will be reluctant to sabotage it.

Are we up to the challenge?

FCO-FAC

2009-04-25T07:35:00.009-04:00

Is it appropriate for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to continue to be the Department through which Anguilla relates to the British Parliament and Government? I read a transcript of the Westminster Hall Debate of 23 April 2009 with interest. The topic of the debate was the recent report by the Foreign Affairs Committee into the governance of the Overseas Territories by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

If you would like to read a short account of the debate, you can find it here.

The debate was three hours long. If you have the time to view a video of the entire debate, it is available here

The full text is available on the on-line Hansard here.

There were several aspects of the debate worth examining and writing about. The one I want to focus on today was an observation made by Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, and then to comment. He suggested that the FCO may not be the most appropriate British government department to have oversight of the British Overseas Territories.

This is what he had to say:

“This issue should not be under foreign affairs. They are not foreign; they are British. Why is it under foreign affairs? Why are British overseas territories — territories of Her Majesty the Queen — under the Foreign Office? They are neither foreign nor Commonwealth. They are not members of the Commonwealth in their own right. They are British overseas territories in the Commonwealth only via Britain, so they should not really be under the Foreign Office at all. They should be placed in the same Department, whichever Department that is, as the British Crown dependencies. Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the British Overseas Territories should all be placed together under one Department, but not the Foreign Office.”

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Anguilla and the other colonies in the West Indies were overseen by the committee of the Privy Council entitled, The Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations. At that time in colonial history we were all labeled as “America”. So, there was the governor of “New York, in America”. There was the attorney-general of “Antigua, in America”, and there was the executive council of “Bermuda, in America”.

The Colonial Office replaced the Privy Council committee in 1768. It ran the colonies in the West Indies until late in the twentieth century. In 1968, with much of Africa and the West Indies having gone independent, the Colonial Office was merged with the Foreign Office.

As an aside, it seems to me that the philosophy behind the merger was straightforward. Those were the days when, as it was said, “Wogs begin at Dover”. Anyone from overseas was not really British, and was by definition foreign, or, worse, a wog. The thinking in Downing Street then, no doubt, was, we may as well lump the colonials and the Commonwealth in together with all those other wogs. So was born the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

British attitudes have changed. They do not think that way or speak that way any longer. [I sometimes think that we in the colonies learned from them too well. Many of the older ones among us, those over 30 years of age, still hold tenaciously to our juvenile race prejudices and fear of the foreigner. We think it make us culturally superior to those mongrel British who now promiscuously treat with all those foreigners. Little do we realise that it is just old-fashioned and outdated British race prejudice that we are aping.] As is so often the case with mimic-men, as Naipaul calls us, the original source of the behaviour has long changed, but we remain zombie-like, our prejudices frozen in the colonial past.

But, back to the main point. It is time for the UK to face up to the fact that Mr Rosindell highlights. It is an insult for us in the British Overseas Territories to continue to relate to the British Parliament and Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. A more relevant and suitable British Government Department must be found to replace the FCO in managing Britain's responsibilities in relation to the BOTs.

And, as an aside, is it not remarkable that they have their parliamentary and committee debates up on their website on the same day?

14 September 2007 - UK Relations

Congo

2009-04-23T08:26:00.008-04:00

There are two web pages I want you to read. One is a judgment of the High Court in Anguilla in relation to how the Attorney-General’s Chambers handled the case against Joe Brice. The A-G’s Chambers were representing Niguel Streete. He is the Director of the Anguilla Financial Services Commission. The Commission is the offshore industry watchdog for Anguilla. The judgment is only three pages long. Read it and weep. If you need any explanation for any part of it, let me know. After you have finished reading, tell me which of you would want the A-G’s Chambers representing you in a dog bite case.

The second web page, titled Undue Diligence, belongs to Global Witness. It concerns the case of Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso. He is the son of the President of the Republic of Congo. He stands accused of stealing the oil wealth of the citizens of Congo. He used an Anguillian company, Long Beach, to do some of his embezzlements. [This report is very long. Use the search feature to find the bits that mention Anguilla.]

Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993. It works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. This is a story of corruption in high places in Congo. My concern is how the events revealed affect Anguilla. The connection with Anguilla is the entities ICS Trust and ICS International. These are Hong Kong based company formation agents. Orient Investments is part of ICS. Orient Investments set up Long Beach in Anguilla. It held the shares in Long Beach in trust for Nguesso.

In addition to being the President’s son, Nguesso is also responsible for marketing Congo’s oil. He opened a bank account at one of Hong Kong’s largest banks. He had some of the proceeds of Congo’s oil sales deposited to it. He had his personal credit card bills paid from it. He stole millions. He squandered the proceeds on designer shopping in Paris and elsewhere. The UK High Court ruled in 2007 that Nguesso and his company were “unsavoury and corrupt”.

Up to now, the story is the usual one of private greed and public loss. An Anguillian company had been set up for the most despicable and corrupt of reasons: the rape and pillage of an impoverished nation’s resources. Anguilla’s connection might appear at most to be peripheral. The real shame comes when we learn that as far back as 2007 Global Witness wrote to Niguel Streete alerting him to this international fraud. We learn that Mr Streete assured Global Witness that he was dealing with the matter. It appears that it took a full year for Mr Streete to do anything at all. The best he could do, after repeated prodding, was to strike Long Beach off the Register of Companies in July 2008. This action is generally accepted as the administrative equivalent of sweeping the dust under the carpet while shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Nguesso’s exploitation of his people by the use of an Anguillian vehicle is a problem. The solution is for the local regulators and industry representatives to vehemently condemn this abuse of our facilities, and then to take whatever action they can to demonstrate that such conduct will not be acceptable.

Has Anguilla signed legislation making corruption elsewhere in the world an offence in Anguilla?

Anguilla’s company management laws make it compulsory for offshore providers to perform due diligence on prospective clients. Has there been a breach of this law? If there has been, what action needs to be taken?

Why did it take a full year from the time Mr Streete was alerted to the fraud for him to take even this lame and ineffectual action?

Does Mr Streete plan any further action against Orient Investments?

Will disciplinary action be brought against ICS if any is justified?

What is the Anguilla Financial Services Association doing to ensure that international bandits are not permitted to mis-use our jurisdiction?

How ready are we to confront and reassure the coming CFATF, and IMF, and Michael Foot’s review visits and assessments that will take place in the next few weeks?

Failure by Mr Streete’s office to proceed diligently and firmly in this matter will most likely result in further serious damage to Anguilla’s reputation.

Does Mr Streete have any other lawyer representing him besides the A-G’s Chambers? If not, I strongly recommend he find one. He needs competent legal advice.

Let me say that I have not researched Orient Investments. I have no idea who the local agent is. She might be my mother, for all I know. For the purposes of this post, it matters not.

And, finally, for any concern that this post will damage Anguilla’s offshore financial services industry, the answer is that the damage has already been done. These publications I refer to are out there in the public domain. It will only take one of our competitors, the financial services sectors of London or New York perhaps, to bring the story to the attention of Reuters or AP.

Governors

2009-04-21T07:54:00.007-04:00

Some Governors have it easy. In the early days, when he was still talking to me, I asked Andrew George what he did before he became Governor of Anguilla. He told me he ran the health desk at the FCO. I understood by that that he checked the health insurance of his fellow department officers. Which goes to show what sort of grade the FCO chose for governor of Anguilla at that time. A clerical officer could only be appointed Governor of Anguilla if his superiors expected nothing positive of his administration. Nothing, except the traditional one of sweeping anything unpleasant that might crop up in the colony under the carpet. The main job of a Governor of a British Overseas Territory in the West Indies was to ensure that the Foreign Secretary suffered no embarrassment as a result of his overall responsibility for the island. It has been so for hundreds of years. Governor Smiley, as he was fondly known to us here, has gone off into retirement with a glow of success surrounding him. He was given a rousing send off and applauded by local Ministers for having done a good job of protecting them.

The FCO will not make that mistake again. Not since the Foreign Affairs Committee Report of last year showed up the bankruptcy of the previous “hands off” system of FCO governance of the Overseas Territories. That is why the FCO have announced they are “upgrading” the position of Governor. Anguilla’s new Governor comes with a distinguished curriculum vitae. He has immense diplomatic experience in some of the most difficult hot spots of British international relations. From this, I understand that there has been a considerable “upgrade” in the type of FCO officer sent to be Governor of Anguilla. I deduce from this that we can expect that Governors now will demand the highest standards of behaviour in public office from members of the Executive Council. Misconduct will no longer be tolerated, we can hope. Alistair Harrison CVO arrived in Anguilla on Sunday to begin his term as Governor of Anguilla. He will be sworn in today in a televised ceremony at the House of Assembly. He is in for a tough assignment over the next three years. I wish him every success, but he will face many challenges on this little island.

Elections are due next year for the latest, more likely in a couple of months' time.

And, then, there are the miscellaneous minor matters of a dysfunctional education system, a demoralized public service, a divided and paralysed governing political party; a mortally wounded Health Authority of Anguilla, the collapsing economy, and the proposed new Constitution of Anguilla that has not as yet been shared with the public.