When Anguilla broke away from St. Kitts-Nevis in 1967 to take its future into its own hands, there were a number of teach-ins conducted by some intellectuals who sought to understand and analyse the reasons for the revolution and to predict its possible outcome.

Today the island has come a long way but it is now at the crossroads in several respects and needs a new impetus to fuel not only its forward movement, but the path it should follow as well. It not only requires some new teach-ins but for them to be applied in a real way to help us to continue charting our course.

Like last week’s Fifth Annual Social Security Lecture, by Dr. Vanus James of the University of the West Indies, this week’s Second Biennial National Development Conference, hosted by the National Bank of Anguilla, should inspire our people and help them in taking our island forward.

Dr. James gave one main example of how a high level of economic success can be achieved over the next few years. Double the current growth rate of 3.1% per year to improve the quality of life of the people of the island, he recommended. One of the ways to achieve it is through relevant and advanced education and crime reduction, resulting in raising productivity, profitability and growth. This may appear to be a tall order, but Anguillians are a resilient people known to face challenges head-on and to succeed. It is in fact our policy-makers who must first take the plunge and the rest of us will follow, although there are some things we can do ourselves.

This week’s National Development Conference covers a wider scope of topics with the sessions conducted by a number of able and qualified persons drawn from within Anguilla and outside the island. The subject matters are Private/Public Initiatives, Natural Resources, Human Resources Development, Finance/Investment, Political Enlightenment and Government’s Role.

These are areas of much public interest and the conclusions arrived at can, like those stemming from Dr. James’s lecture, provide a springboard of ideas from which we can leap forward in our continuing quest to boost national development and enrich the lives of our people.

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