Participation

We Will All Benefit from these Projects! I had always understood that one of the excuses for permitting hotel development on our Island was the consequential improvements that would come to the lives of Anguillians. These improvements were not only to be jobs in the hotels. We were going to benefit from ownership, if not of major hotels, then of the smaller ancillary services that add on to the tourist industry. So, we would own the car rentals, the water sports, the tour operations, the restaurants, and the rental apartments. I am particularly concerned about the rental apartments. We were told that, with the expansion in the hotels expected over the coming five years, there will be a need for lower to middle income housing for hotel staff.

The most expensive of the local investment initiatives has been the property development business. Ministers of government have challenged us to go into property development to take advantage of the coming boom. Young men and women have gone to the banks and mortgaged their properties to build apartments for rent. Rental apartments have been going up all over the island. The success of this endeavour depends on the apartments producing the income that will pay the mortgages. Few Anguillians have the income or the capital to afford to put up these apartments without borrowing.

If Anguillians cannot rent out these new apartments, they will lose them. In particular, if the major hotels are permitted to own their own rental apartments, then the many Anguillians who have taken up the challenge will be the losers. Their apartments will not be able to compete. They will remain empty. Anguillians will be deprived of their opportunity to benefit from the coming tourism boom. They will be unable to pay their bank loans. They will lose their properties, which will then be bought at distressed prices by the hotels to use for their staff.

Now, I hear that some of the major hotel developers on Anguilla have been given Aliens Landholding Licences to purchase land to put up apartments for their staff. The word I have is that one investor in particular has purchased land in the area of the West End Gas Station, but on the opposite side of the road. They plan to put up a hundred staff apartments on it. The Planning Department would have had to approve this project. Cabinet would have had to grant the licence. There has been no public announcement or explanation.

What, I ask, is the meaning of this? If it is true, then why has there been no debate in the community about this development? Is no one concerned?

Discussions

Thievery and Constitutions. I had wanted to talk to you today about how important it is for the police to lead by good example. When a police officer arranges with a friendly cashier to let him pass without paying for supermarket goods, that is theft. The police officer thieves. The cashier aids and abets. It is the officer who is the main culprit. It is not right that it is the cashier who gets fired, but we do not hear of anything happening to the officer. It is said to have happened since last Saturday. It is now Saturday, a week later. What a thing! What sort of an example is this? What will the officer’s colleagues do about it? Why have we not heard anything official?

Instead, I want to tell you that I went to the Chief Minister’s Constitutional Reform Team’s meeting at Paradise Cove yesterday, Friday. It was a good meeting, I thought. Nothing of substance was discussed or decided. It was more of a strategy meeting. We discussed, for example, whether it was better to go for individual amendments to the Constitution that would have the cumulative effect of Anguillians claiming the right to full internal self-government. That was the way the Commission thought Anguillians want it done. Or, would it be better to come out and demand the right. Some thought one way and others thought another. In the end, it was the consensus that it would be better to establish the principle and let the individual amendments hang from the central column. The Commission was concerned that that would be mere flag-waving, and decided against it. We will see!

What the Chief and Hubert want us to do now is to look at a number of self-governing Constitutions and pick and choose what we think is best. Eddie is strong that regardless of what we think is best, it must be for the people to decide whether they want self-government or colonialism or independence. He wants a referendum on the choice first, and then the picking and choosing can come later.

We are to meet again in two weeks time to continue the discussion.

Compulsion

Get a Life! Does posting this Blog have to be the center piece of my life? A cousin recently asked me the question, “Don, isn’t it time for you to get back a life”? That was a criticism of this Blog, I guess. Is the Blog my main interest in life? No, it is not! I have other obligations and interests. Could it be that some of these have suffered due to my concentrating on the Blog? Should I be getting back to some of my other activities? Probably.

The Blog was started on a compulsion. It was a knee-jerk reaction to what I saw as our media’s complete ignoring of critical social issues. There are lots of them. Back in December, when I started to post, they were apparent to all. Yet, no one seemed to be concerned.

When you have a compulsive personality, as I do, things get started instantly. Things get stopped just as abruptly as they got started. I recognise the symptoms. That is how we compulsives live our lives. We develop overwhelming passions overnight. But, they fade away just as spontaneously and unexpectedly. There is a risk of this happening to the Blog. I feel it in my bones.

Being threatened with a law suite by the government ministers I voted for has not helped! It tends to have a depressing effect! On being a major contribution at this time to my enjoyment of life, I give the Blog a score of 2 out of 10.

Let me thank all those who sent in encouraging comments, to the last two posts especially. The one on the history of the average Blog was enlightening. The suggestion that I do not try to keep up the frenetic pace of the past was well taken. If you read the comments, I hope you will understand why postings are going to slow down and become more sporadic now.

Purpose?

Has the Blog Served a Useful Purpose? Has the exercise been worthwhile? There have been some successes, but more failures. Let us look at some of both of them.

Successes: The police have started to use the media more effectively. They have proven much more efficient and professional than we originally assumed when the Blog began. They have recruited highly trained professionals. They have made several arrests that they can justifiably be proud of.

The community has become more actively involved in protesting against injustice. Anguillians have learned again how to demonstrate to express their views.

The print and radio media are more confrontational now, as they should be. The Anguillian Newspaper has published its first editorials critical of government within the last six months. The radio call-in programmes “Talk Your Mind”, “To the Point”, “The Mayor’s Show”, and “Social Solutions” have all begun in recent months to tackle previously taboo subjects.

Failures: On the other hand, our government has not embraced transparency, despite frequent promises. Very few government plans or policies are published. Just a few short months ago, the government press office started sending out press releases on Cabinet meetings and other government initiatives and activities. We got the first summary of Cabinet discussions. The promise was that it would be a regular thing. Then, it dried up. Now, it seems the press office only sends out bland official releases prepared by various government agencies and long, boring ministerial speeches prepared by civil servants.

The environment is under increasing threat. Environmental degradation continues unchecked. Environmental Impact Assessments are still a joke.

Land development scams continue to flourish, without any discouragement from the authorities.

Conflicts of interest at high levels have not been confronted and dealt with.

Youth gangsterism continues to increase. US prison-based Hip Hop “don’t tell” culture reigns triumphant. Citizens increasingly are afraid to cooperate with the authorities when they have knowledge of crime and the perpetrators.

Human trafficking and exploitation of foreigners continues, and increases daily.

The Public Accounts Committee shows no sign of beginning to function. The Opposition is still disorganized.

Sometimes, it seems that no headway is being made.

And, then the main reason this Blog was started. The failure of our leadership to push for constitutional reform along the lines preferred by a majority of Anguillians as published in the August 2006 Constitutional Commission Report. The constitutional review process has remained essentially stalled. There was a promising but temporary revival of official interest in March, April, May, June and July, after some digging principally from the radio and press. But, a failure of vision at the highest levels continues unabated. As this was one of the main reasons for starting this Blog, it has to be counted a major failure.

Is this too pessimistic?

On usefulness, I give the Blog a score of 5 out of 10.

Targets?

Any Targets Left? It is time to do an evaluation of this Blog. This is an unsettling time for the Blog. Are we going forward or backwards? It may pay dividends to strategise if we are to go forward. So, some thoughts on the purpose and value of the Blog follow in this and the next two posts.

We have dealt with a multiplicity of topics over the past several months. There is no need to itemize those issues that have been dealt with in past posts. They are all listed in the panel on the right under the heading “Labels”. By clicking on any label, you will immediately have every relevant item gathered together on one page for you to look at.

Are there any worthwhile targets left? It sometimes seems to me that I am running out of new subjects to talk about. The ideas no longer come flowing out of the keyboard without effort. It takes more discipline and application now to get the posts out regularly. I have tried to be equal-opportunity offensive in choosing targets for this Blog. Family and friends were not spared. Eventually, one must run out of even worthwhile family and friends to pick on. I have re-visited old topics where I thought they could benefit from a re-airing. I can only do that so often, and then it will appear to be just re-cycling used material. In recent months, there has been a falling off in contributions by new contacts. There is just the steady list of correspondents who were willing to contribute from the first days.

Are there any worthwhile targets left? Is there anyone who still wishes to begin making contributions, but has not done so as yet? Unless you convince me otherwise, I give the Blog a score of 3 out of 10 on the prospects for finding worthwhile new targets.

Identity Cards

Constitutional Discussions 24: Identity Cards. It is presently a matter of uncertainty who of all the residents of Anguilla are entitled to Anguillian status. This status determines who can vote and who can purchase land freely and without any restriction. You cannot be deported or declared a prohibited immigrant if you are an Anguillian. At present, one has to produce a Belonger certificate issued by the Belonger Commission. Or, you may have a passport showing your Belonger stamp in it. Or, you might have with you your a birth certificate showing your birth in Anguilla to apparently Anguillian parents. Better still, you may have gone to school with the young Immigration Officer who is checking you in at the Arrivals at the airport. It helps if she knew your parents. The result is that you can prove you are an Anguillian in a variety of ways. All of this was entirely unsatisfactory to a majority of those persons who made representations on the subject to the members of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission during the 2006 public discussions.

One representation that found favour was the requirement that all Anguillians carry an identity card. This would provide one standard mechanism for all of us to prove our Anguillian status when lawfully required to do so. Several concerned citizens pointed out that, with the recommendations for widening the definition of who is to be considered an Anguillian, there will in the future be many qualified persons who are not known in the community. At present, with its small village-like community structure, Anguillians generally all know who is who. In the coming years, the island’s population is expected to grow dramatically. It will become increasingly a matter of concern for the authorities to know immediately who is and who is not an Anguillian. Such a provision will go a long way to avoiding doubts. This was the recommendation of the Commission at paragraph 178 of its August 2008 Report.

It is a matter for regret that members of the House of Assembly meeting in caucus at the Limestone Bay Café in March did not agree with this recommendation. They were persuaded that it would be an excessive invasion of privacy. It was precisely because the members of the Commission recognised the intrusion into privacy that such a recommendation entailed that they thought it necessary to include the measure as a Constitutional provision. It is a matter for the law which will have to be enacted by the Assembly to give effect to the bare bones of the Constitutional provision to flesh out the protections for the public. It is difficult to see what the members of the Assembly want to put in place of an identity card. Or, do they not realise what a problem of identification the authorities are going to have in Anguilla in just a few years time?

This post brings to an end the list of disagreements that the members of the House of Assembly had with the recommendations of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission. Subsequently, in July, the Chief Minister’s negotiating team met at Paradise Cove. They came up with some new ideas for discussion with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office team. Those discussions have now been indefinitely postponed. They will occur sometime in the next year or two. It does not look as if anyone in Government is going to tell the public what these ideas were. It will fall to me to do so, if I can find my notes.

As I write this, I am buried in the Public Records Office at Kew in London. I am researching Anguilla’s old colonial documents. I shall depend on you to let me have ideas for blogging for the next few weeks. As soon as I am back home, I shall look for my notes and let you know what I think.

Anguillian Status

Constitutional Discussions 23: Great-grandchildren of Anguillians. The question who is to be considered an Anguillian was the subject of much debate and disagreement during the 2006 public consultations of the Anguilla Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission. The Commission eventually came up with a compromise recommendation that is contained at paragraph 174 of its August 2006 Report. I am not going to repeat it for you. It is long and complicated. It needs to be read in full to get its entire meaning. The members of the House of Assembly meeting in caucus at the Limestone Bay Café to consider the recommendations were generally in support of the changes recommended. There was just one small disagreement. It had to do with the great-grandchildren of Anguillians.

The Commission had recommended that children and grandchildren of Anguillians should automatically be Anguillians. It is not so now. Grandchildren of Anguillians are not legally Anguillian belongers. The Commission went further than grandchildren. They found that Anguillians in the main wanted their great-grandchildren to be included in the category of Anguillians. There was only one condition. It should not be automatic. The grant of Anguillian status to great-grandchildren should be tied to a proven connection with Anguilla. It would depend on proof of continuous residence in Anguilla for a period of five years prior to the application for a grant of a certificate of Anguillian status. This residence qualification would ensure that the many thousands of descendents of Anguillians who have long ago given up any connection with the island will not automatically be entitled. It is only those who reside on the island who would be so entitled.

Members of the House of Assembly were reluctant to go with this recommendation. They preferred the minority view. They would not include great-grandchildren, no matter how long they had lived on the island.

Quite what they were concerned about is still not clear to me!