Ethics and Integrity

Ethics and Integrity.

My wife has asked me if it is not time that I write a story about a person who demonstrates ethics and integrity in public life. Why only publish negative stories, she asked. Well, I can only publish stories that I know. If any of the readers of this Blog knows a story about a person in public life who demonstrates in everything he or she does a commitment to ethics and integrity, please let me know. I would be delighted to publish such a story.

Constitutional Reform

The following article appeared recently in Caribbean Net News. It is of interest to those of us concerned about advancing the process of Constitutional reform in Anguilla. It is important because it gives us an idea of what can be done in our negotiations with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office:

BVI Chief Minister says 95 percent of constitutional aims achieved

Published on Thursday, March 1, 2007

ROAD TOWN, BVI: Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands, Dr Orlando Smith, speaking from London at the end of the fourth round of constitutional talks, said the Territory's negotiating team has achieved 95% of the proposals for a modern constitution for the people of the BVI.

“We fought vigorously in the interest of the people because we knew it would be difficult, but it was the people’s wishes and we fought for their desires,” the Chief Minister said.

The new constitution will include a Human Rights Charter which the Chief Minister said his team is particularly proud of as this means for the first time BVIslanders are accorded full constitutional rights.

On the issue of the BVI having a Cabinet system of Government, the Chief Minister said that while the BVI team recognised that the Governor should still be a member of the Cabinet, the United Kingdom team agreed that there should be a sharing of responsibility.

“We have obtained concession in ensuring that the setting of the agenda of the Cabinet (currently Executive Council) is no longer the province of the Governor alone. It has now been agreed that the Premier should also set the agenda of the Cabinet, and the exercise of this power is not subject to the veto of the Governor or any other person,” the Chief Minister reported.

The Chief Minister said he is satisfied with the decision that there will be a sharing in responsibilities in external affairs and internal security through the establishment of a National Security Council. This Council will comprise senior Government members, as well as the Governor, who will oversee all matters relating to the police and security.

“For the first time, the BVI Government will have a direct say in how the Territory is policed and the Governor will be obliged to act on the advice of the Council,” the Chief Minister said.

On the issue of a sixth ministry, the Chief Minister said, “The UK shares our view that the growing population of the BVI means that the Constitution should allow for this position to be created in the future.”

Lord Triesman, who headed the United Kingdom delegation at the fourth round of talks, and the FCO Minister responsible for the Overseas Territories, congratulated the Chief Minister and his delegation on their determination to secure the best deal for their people, while retaining the links to the UK of which we are all proud."

Outstanding Warrants

Outstanding Warrants.

The following article recently appeared in the Cayman Observer. I have been trying to find out whether Anguilla has a similar problem. I have not been successful. Perhaps, someone who knows could let us know? It is important because the existence of a large number of outstanding warrants means that it is the police and not the court that decides who goes to prison and who does not. That situation is a cause for concern. It tends to corrupt our system of justice:

Police target outstanding warrants

Grand Cayman (28 February 2007) - The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) has assigned four officers to focus on clearing a backlog of about 1,200 warrants and witness summonses held by the court.

Warrants are currently held for a variety of offences such as failing to appear in court to answer charges or pay fines. In the last week, 60 witness summonses and eight warrants have been executed.

Commissioner of Police Stuart Kernohan explained the reason for the crackdown. "The community wants to see punishments that fit the crime and they want to know that the court system is being respected.

"In addition, fines can only really be credible sentencing options if they are enforced properly. Hopefully, the knowledge that offenders will be pursued if they fail to pay will encourage them to obey the rules and pay up," he said.

The officers involved will be working over the next few weeks to execute all the outstanding warrants and bring people before the court.

"Some people may think that they need not worry about minor offences as no one will check on them, but that is not the case," Kernohan said.

"Respect for the court means enforcing all the orders of the court - no matter what the crime or penalty. How can we effectively tackle the big things if we ignore the little things?"

The police are requesting that anyone who may have an outstanding warrant or needs to pay a fine to contact their local police station or the court as soon as possible or face being arrested.

The police reported that on 22 February, the first day of the operation, five people were taken to court on various warrants: for failing to appear to answer burglary charges; for failing to appear to answer charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and carrying an offensive weapon; for breaching a community service order; for failing to pay a $750 fine; and for failing to pay a speeding ticket.

Constitutional Reform

The following written question and answer recently appeared in Hansard. It is of interest to us in the Overseas Territories, as it shows us the progress that has been made in other islands, and the kinds of reforms that we may expect from our negotiations with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office:

Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what powers were transferred to overseas territories in each of the last two years; and what further transfers are under discussion.

Geoff Hoon (Minister of State (Europe), Foreign & Commonwealth Office) | Hansard source

On 9 August 2006, a new constitution for the Turks and Caicos Islands came into force. This transferred the following powers to the territory:

the local House of Assembly may increase the number of elected members of the House and increase the number of Ministers proportionately;

the Premier may nominate one extra nominated member of the House of Assembly;

responsibility for international financial services other than regulation transferred from the Governor to local Ministers;

a new Advisory National Security Council may consider and make non-binding recommendations to the Governor on external affairs, defence, internal security, the regulation of international financial services and the exercise of emergency powers (matters which remain the Governor's special responsibility); the local Cabinet may do the same;

an enlarged Public Service Commission and a new Judicial Service Commission may give advice to the Governor on public service and judicial appointments respectively, which would be binding unless the Governor were instructed otherwise by the Secretary of State; and

the Governor must appoint the Cabinet Secretary on the advice of the Premier and the Governor must consult the Premier before appointing anyone to the office of Attorney-General.

On 2 January 2007, a new constitution for Gibraltar came into force. This transferred to local Ministers executive responsibility for all matters other than those expressly reserved to the Governor, namely external affairs, defence, internal security including the police and certain public service matters. It also established a Public Service Commission, a Specified Appointments Commission and a Judicial Service Commission, each having executive powers subject only to an exceptional power of veto by the Governor. It also established an independent police authority for Gibraltar, with power for the local legislature to prescribe its functions; the police authority has power to advise the Governor on the appointment of the commissioner of police, subject to an exceptional power of veto by the Governor. As regards locally enacted legislation, the new constitution limits the circumstances in which the Governor may not assent to bills and removes the power of the Secretary of State to disallow laws.

No other new overseas territory constitutions have come into force during the last two years. Constitutional reform negotiations are currently in train with the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Cayman Islands, but these are confidential to the parties at this stage.

ALHCS Board of Governors

Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School Board of Governors. The ALHC School is the sole secondary school on the island. It is owned and operated by the government of Anguilla. Its principal is Mrs Ingrid Lake. She has her senior management team to help her in running the two campuses of the school. They are advised by a Board of Governors.

The Board consists of:

. Elvet Hughes, Chairman

. Keesha Webster

. Pastor Cecil Richardson

. Pastor John Gumbs

. Leslie Richardson

. Ingrid Lake

. Maria Webster

. Anita Brooks

They are paid a monthly stipend of EC$450.00. They meet mostly once a month, sometimes twice, and very rarely three times. They are responsible for some school spending, maintenance, behavioural problems, etc. There are two subcommittees, namely the Financial Committee and the Student Services Committee.

The Financial Committee keeps track of spending, obtaining school supplies and the like. Major spending and salaries are dealt with by Ministry.

The Student Services Committee usually visits the school when there are behavioural problems. They meet with the students and parents to discuss. They are consulted and make a decision on suspension questions. In one month, the Student Services Committee may be called for 10 meetings, maybe more. At times it becomes so hectic that they go in pairs.

The Board of Governors may be considered successful for what it does. From the members on the Board they obtain free spiritual, educational, legal and financial advice. The meetings are very hectic, especially for the Student Services Committee, and the stipend only suffices for gasoline. Membership should be considered it as voluntary service.

Blogging

Blogging.

Someone asked me recently how the Blog was going. My answer was that it received fewer than one hundred visits a day. On reflection, that was not a complete answer. Site Meter, which provides the counter that you see at the foot of the right-hand column on the screen, sends me an analysis each week. You may be interested in what it reveals. Last Sunday, part of the report was:

                  Corruption-free Anguilla                  

                    -- Site Summary ---                     

          Visits

            Total ........................ 4,490            

            Average per Day ................. 89            

            Average Visit Length .......... 6:37            

            This Week ...................... 624            

          Page Views

            Total ....................... 15,054            

            Average per Day ................ 260            

            Average per Visit .............. 2.9            

            This Week .................... 1,823            

What that means was that when the total number of visits since the Blog began was 4,490, there was an average of 89 persons visiting each day. On average, each visitor stayed for 6 minutes and 37 seconds. That week, there had been 624 visitors to the site.

Site Meter gives a lengthy score of the visits hour by hour, which I shall not reproduce. Suffice it to say that those 4,490 visitors read a total of 15,054 pages. On average, 260 pages were read each day. Each visitor went to an average of 2.9 pages. That may mean that about 100 persons visit the Blog each week, read the new post, and re-visit two others. It may also mean that most readers visit only twice a week and read the three post that have been made since their last visit, in which case there are about 300 of you out there regularly reading the Blog.

The busiest times for visits over the week (over any 2 hour period) was after dinner when there were 69 out of the 624 visits. Joint second was in the early morning, before work, and during the lunch period, when there were 66 visits on each occasion.

Thank all of you who visit, and especially those who fearlessly go onto “Comments” and leave your anonymous comment on what you read.

NICA 12

NICA 12.

We have spent the past two weeks looking at the 2003 Thomas Report into the performance of the Board of Directors of the National Investment Company of Anguilla Ltd. What is of concern is the suspicion that rises in us that nothing has changed with the present Board of Directors. We worry about a number of matters.

The Board may not be meeting on a regular basis.

Proper record-keeping might not have become the norm.

We have to hope that the present Chairman, Calvert Carty, has learned from the mistakes made by Kennedy Hodge and George Kentish and is not handling all the company’s affairs personally.

We have to hope that he is not acting unilaterally.

We hope that he holds proper meetings with his co-directors.

The Board must sign off on all major decisions.

He must ensure that all decisions of the Board are minuted, and the minutes carefully preserved.

We have reason to worry. Important company activities are being missed.

The lease with Anguilla Rums has long run out. It has never been renewed.

The book store has closed shop without a whisper of explanation.

The office is shut with no explanation published in the press.

The company failed to file its annual returns in the Registry of Companies.

It was again struck off the Register in January 2007. No one in the company has told us if the company has been restored to the Register.

No audited accounts have yet been presented to the shareholders.

The Annual General Meeting is long overdue and has not been called. It would be an outrage to call an AGM now without presenting the missing Audits.

Is the company still stuck in the amateurism and unprofessionalism that were criticised by Mr Thomas? Are the same mistakes being made?

The question must be asked, is it not time to wind up this company? Should not a liquidator sell its assets at the best available price? Should the liquidator not then pay any bills and distribute the net proceeds to the shareholders? Can we agree that it is time to bring NICA’s misery to an end?