Interruptions. Today I am off to 
days. It will be in many ways a sad trip. This is one of the most corrupt of our several failed Commonwealth Caribbean States. The public ethics situation there is even worse than in St Vincent or
Anyone who wants to see what happens to a people, who are tricked into going for independence without having visionaries at the helm to ensure that the necessary protections and checks and balances are in place, should study Grenada. Start by reading any of the articles in the most recent edition of the Internet newspaper Grenada Today. Perhaps, you would like to read about the Prime Minister’s arrangements with his tame Registrar of Offshore Financial Services to collect “election contributions” from crooked offshore bankers? Or, perhaps you would like to learn about the government’s conniving in facilitating the most recent bank fraud? Every time I hear the name
If I learn anything of interest to
Hi Mr.Mitchell;
ReplyDeleteYou have o poll question on this site; " Do you think Anguillian ministers are corrupt?".
Can you provide us with specific examples of why you think that they are. We need to have the facts out so that the people can do something.
Keep up the excellent work of ex sing who you think needs exposing.
I suspect the first post above is a troll by someone who would like to see you sued by the Ministers.
ReplyDeleteI believe the best evidence of corruption in Anguilla is the Ministers' lack of enthusiasm for anti-corruption and open government legislation.
The second writer surely is uninformed: Truth is an absolute defence to a suit for defamation.
ReplyDeleteIf Don Mitchell has evidence sufficient to sustain his numerous innuendo of corruption within the sitting Government, as he clearly implies by his numerous comments and suggestions, including the "poll", then he should have no fear of being sued by the Ministers, AGAIN!
If he wants his readers to accept his assertions, then he is obliged to present the evidence which is behind his assertions, so that his readers may judge for themselves. To do otherwise removes any credibility which may attach to his words.
It is not only unfair, but stupid to say that the ".. best evidence of corruption in Anguilla is the Ministers lack of enthusiasm for anti-corruption and open government legislation." Where is the evidence of THAT?
s the Bible teaches "..Let he who is without sin cast the first stone..."
Why does IDMitch and his cronies see continued British overlordhing as protection for AXA against corruption of its leaders?
ReplyDeleteIt does not protect us now.
Our leaders are no more corrupt than the British leaders in Britian.
Dame Maggie Thatcher a modest shop-keeper's daughter, entered parliament at age 25 and left office with a personal fortune of over sixty seven million pounds and was subject to an enquiry about arms dealing. Her son! Just look at his record and what she helped him to amass.
John Major had his share of scandals and the conservatives lost power about corruption.
Tony Blair left office under more shadows than just Iraq. What about the scandals of sales of peerages to the House of Lords?
You could go on and on.
Britain is overlording it now and IDM still sees corruption. So what is the deal? Protection of the white pretenders in Anguilla? No that cannot be it.
It is just a natural desire for those who have an identity problem to want to stamp out those who know who they are.
IDM has to come with an excuse better than corruption.
Fairness
The question I would pose to the first correspondent above (6:19am September 20) is "Why are Anguillian ministers so unwilling to provide evidence that they are NOT corrupt?"
ReplyDeleteThey have, over the recent past, secretively and without public consultation, approved developments which will totally alter the character of the island, including one in particular (the KOR Group project for Viceroy) which will result in that developer having a dominant position in Anguilla - something that had previously been recognised as a danger to Anguilla's future and to be avoided at all costs.
That developer was then allowed by government to employ foreign workers under shameful terms and conditions which were not only morally indefensible but which threaten the livelihood of honest Anguillians competing for similar work.
The future consequence of this hectic development will be a massive increase in the population of the island to accommodate the necessary staff to service these developments, raging inflation and the destruction of the very character of Anguilla so cherished by the vast majority of its people.
It is true that this out-of-control-development may yield short term financial benefits for the few, but in the long term I fear that more harm will be seen to have been done to Anguilla by this government in two years than has been done by all other governments put together since those who fought for independence sought to establish, and succeeded in establishing, a different and kinder Anguilla.
What were the government's motives in adopting this demented policy? Were they just plain stupid or did they have a vested interest in granting favourable treatment to these developers? They have been asked to explain, as any government that favours transparency should be only too willing to do. They have not responded except to say that they are blameless. It does not take a rocket scientist to draw the obvious conclusion. If that conclusion is wrong, let the ministers concerned lose no more time in providing the true explanation.
While it's true that truth is an absolute defence to a claim for damages for libel or slander, the cost of proving one's defence may be ruinous.
ReplyDeleteWe all are aware that things are not going well in our little paradise,however we also know where the root of the problem lie.This is a daunting task for us as Anguillians trying to correct years of bad policy and decision making by our elected officials.The timeis now to work as a united people so we can reverse this alarming and dishaughting trend.
ReplyDeleteThough it may be true that Gov't is to blame in part for our present dilema,we in general are not entirely without blame ourselves.Having said this,I do hope that all who have ears to hear will pull together for the continued growth and prosperity of our beautiful Anguilla.
We know what needs to be done and we have to make a stand to accomplish the goal at hand.
Stop playing the blame game and actively participate in shaping your own destiny.It is time for a change of the guard,a time to take a chance on bold new leadership.We need a new visionary,someone with a new perspective or agenda.There are an abundance of new leaders waiting to take the helm if giving the opportunity.Leaders who will be positive for the island's future.It is these young men and women to whom the touch should be passed.Why are we encouraging their educational development if we are not willing to give them the opportunities to do what we sent them to school to learn?Many of the old farths now in Gov't need to retire and not prolong their stay which will only further injure our country.Young men like Brent,Curtis etc should be commended for taking a stand and trying to work at removing these dinosars.They have worked long and hard and ofcourse have done some good things for our people but their work is done and they need to move on to sometihing else.This is not to say that there are not still decent men in Gov't,men like Hon Rogers and Baird are still young and progressive but the others, well hmm ,lets see ,you know .....