I regret having to start this column with the ferryboat Niki V but I am compelled to do so because of my longstanding concern over the safety of passengers who travel on it. The Niki V has some roof lights in the deck cabin which are a health hazard. Some two or more years ago I struck my head against one of the lights and it sent me reeling. I spoke to some crew members about repositioning them but nothing has changed.

Since then I saw a visitor strike his head against one of the lights causing him considerable pain. Sometime later I met the owner of the boat, brought the hazard to his attention and cautioned him that, if it was not corrected, one of these days he goin end up with a big law suit. To this day the hazard to the health of passengers travelling to and from St Martin on the Niki V continues.

On Friday 2nd March I went to St Martin to attend the funeral service of Emilienne Adjodha-Petty, a first cousin of mine, who died in the prime of her life. She had just turned 44 years. I wish her two beautiful daughters, Shahayra and Aisha, well. As I walked towards the Niki V at Blowing Point, I met Dale Rogers, the Ports Manager, on the jetty and I raised with him the Niki V hazard. He told me that he struck his head against the lights on two occasions and when I asked him what he did about it he said he had spoken to the people responsible for safety. But they did nothing.

After speaking with Dale, I boarded the Niki V, mindful of the roof lights, and took a seat. Later Fogle Webster came aboard whereupon he struck his head against one of them. He winced with pain. I then told him of my experience and he agreed that the lights were a hazard. He made me laugh when he said that if it was Tall Boy the light would have knocked out one of his eyes.

Off the Niki V sailed for St Martin. Then the time came for one of the sailors to collect the boat fare from passengers. Lo and behold, as he made his way through the cabin he struck his head against one of the lights.

Having already spoken to the Niki V’s owner and its crew about the health hazard, all to no avail, I now use this medium to bring the matter to the attention of those officials charged with ensuring the safety of our ferries. I am urging them to deal with the hazard expeditiously to avoid serious injury to travellers. Believe me, if no corrective action is taken the time will come when somebody gets seriously hurt. I want to add that the livelihood of many of our people is dependent on the St Martin/Anguilla ferry link and their safety and that of visitors to our shores must be a priority. I trust that the Minister of Communications ensures that his officials do what they have to do without delay to make the Niki V safe for travellers.

While I am on the Niki V, I want to comment briefly on two aspects of the ferry service in general. Firstly, the ferries need to stick to their schedules if they are to build people’s confidence in the service they provide. Here is a recent experience. I rushed to Blowing Point over the Easter weekend to catch the Lady Maria which was scheduled to leave at 1.00 pm. I booked in at 12.40 pm and waited patiently for the boarding. At 1.00 pm someone announced that the Lady Maria was leaving at 1.30 instead. As harsh as that. No reason. No apology. No nuttin. I have since learnt that other ferries do the same thing without good reason. That is regrettable. A reliable ferry service is critical to the survival of our tourist-economy and therefore owners of ferryboats should not be allowed to change schedules with impunity. Those days should have long passed.

Very soon we will see the official opening of a modern ferry facility at Blowing Point and, most definitely, it should be accompanied by reliable and responsible ferry services. I believe that the opening of the new facility should be accompanied by up to date legislation governing the operations of the service.

The second aspect of the ferry service on which I want to comment is the lack of pride in the attire of ferry crews. Some crew members look like stevedores or like sailors who work aboard cargo boats. Their attire needs serious improvements in light of the kind of services they are rendering. It would be good if Government authorities and ferryboat operators could meet and discuss the way forward on this matter. The attire of ferryboat crews should reflect professionalism and pride in their work.

It is the matter of pride which is the main thrust of this column. The Easter holidays provided me with an opportunity to do a little sight seeing which I hardly get to do because of my work schedule. As I drove around the island it occurred to me that there is a discernable decline in the civic pride of Anguillian people. The signs are starkly visible.

Presently, Government is doing a first class job of upgrading the island’s main roads. But a regular sight along these said roads is gangs of men employed in picking up the rubbish alongside them. They fill bags upon bags of rubbish. And yer know something? All of the rubbish is what has been carelessly thrown from our cars as we go about our business. It is rubbish that we do not bother to dispose of in a proper way. In the process, we are gradually turning our countryside into a garbage heap.

Some years ago legislation was put in place for the imposition of fines for littering and for the appointment of litter wardens to give effect to the legislation but I have never seen or heard of a warden anywhere in Anguilla. Of course, litter wardens would help. So too would more litter bins and prominently placed notices reminding us to take our rubbish home. Also, Anguilla could do well with a campaign aimed at enlightening its people about environmental cleanliness. Towards this end the Government, through its Environmental Department, could give a lead but, in the end, environmental cleanliness is largely a civic responsibility of Anguillian people. Where there is declining civic pride there is increasing ugliness.

Further evidence of the decline in our civic pride and responsibility is seen in the way we maintain our roundabouts. We once prided ourselves in them. There was even a postcard depicting them in all their glory. Some of the roundabouts are still in reasonably good shape, but the once well-groomed greenery beautifying the one in the central Valley Area is fast disappearing and taking on the appearance of a bed of gravel. We need to restore it to its former glory.

Then there is the roundabout at the Little Dix/Shoal Bay Road junction. It commands the major road entrance to Shoal Bay (East), one of our finest beaches and a major attraction for visitors. Regrettably, the roundabout is a concrete bowl brimming with weeds. It is an eyesore. It needs urgent attention if it is to enhance the appearance of the area.

Another roundabout eyesore, to put it mildly, is the one which sits smack in the middle of the compound of the House of Assembly (the Atlin Harrigan Parliamentary Building), our centre of Government – the seat of our democracy for which we fought in the mid-1960s. In this roundabout stands a sadly neglected semi-finished structure. I recall that several years ago there were plans for the building of some kind of memorial, inclusive of a fountain, in honour of the heroes of the Anguilla Revolution. Today there is nothing on the ground except some cold and ugly concrete bits and pieces. This begs the question: does the unfinished – abandoned – structure reflect any sense of civic pride? No. Does it set a good example for Anguillian people? No.

Neither does the roundabout reflect the honour due to our heroes of 1967. Rather, it reflects a lack of appreciation of their noble contributions. Candidly, it is a mark of disrespect for Atlin Harrrigan, the Father of Anguilla’s democracy, in whose honour the Assembly was named. It would be most unfortunate if this year’s celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of our Revolution, meets an unfinished memorial to its leaders.

Incidentally, most countries take great pride in their parliamentary buildings and surroundings. They are cultural showpieces often reflective of their history. We are a young country with a proud history. Let us showcase it and in so doing help in the rejuvenation of civic pride.

The case for the rejuvenation of civic pride is paramount because, as shown above, its decline is impacting Anguillian society negatively. Indeed, many of the social problems with which Anguilla is confronted are partly the result of a decline in civic pride. For example, the lack of emphasis on civic values, such as respect for life and property, and love thy neighbour as thyself, is a major cause of the upsurge in criminal activity on the island.

I say further that the many instances of anti-social behaviour among our young people are partly the consequence of the failure of our education system to prepare children for community life. The system has been preoccupied for far too long with pursuing strictly academic agendas while neglecting the preparation of children for community living – for life outside of the school environment. Its curricula have a civic deficit – are devoid of civic content.

I recall that in the mid-1900s civic education was an important component of our schools’ curricula. The curricula had a civic dimension which passed on civic skills vital to the development of good citizens, but the ‘modern educators’ took it out and now we are paying the price. We need to put it back in – to remedy the civic deficit. Of course, the teaching of Physics, Chemistry and so on is good. But also important is that our children have to learn how to live with other children and how to live with people in the wider community once they have left school. Their education must be inclusive of a civic mission vital to the promotion of civic awareness and responsibilities and for character development. The end product is a more caring Anguilla marked by social harmony and the free exercise of democratic rights and privileges.

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