Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, told local reporters on Tuesday that his delegation’s request to Britain for a fifth Minister of Government was not immediately forthcoming as the Minister for the Overseas Territories, Meg Munn, said it was something for the United Kingdom to think about.

Hon. Osbourne Fleming

Mr. Fleming spoke to the press following his return to Anguilla from London where he was among other leaders attending the Ninth Overseas Territories Consultative Council Conference which was held on December 4 and 5. He and his delegation had a separate meeting the following day with the Minister responsible for the territories, Meg Munn, during which a number of matters exclusively relating to Anguilla were discussed.

The Chief Minister told the media that when he first entered the Anguilla Government, the island’s budget was below three million dollars and at present that figure had climbed to a staggering $253 million. He pointed out that this showed the rapid growth of the island which had resulted in greater administrative responsibilities, particularly in the Ministry of Social Development to which four new departments had been added: Probation, Youth and Culture, a separate Department of Sports and the Community College Development Unit.

“The weight in Social Development is high and because of that, a lot of things remain undone,” he said. “We felt that if we could have had an interim person taking over some of the responsibilities of this ministry it might be good, but we knew this was a constitutional matter. However I can recall that in 2001 there were three ministers. I was a designated minister responsible for tourism so I thought I could use that way forward and see if we could get around it in that manner.

“As I said, the UK Minister was not all for it, but she said she would get some advice on it. I know it is not an easy thing to have because what they will tell us is: ‘move quickly with the constitution to provide for five ministers and that with seven elected representatives there is no justification for five of them to be ministers.’ So we will wait. If it happens, it happens and if it does not, we will have to adjust ourselves and move forward.”

While he was disappointed over the delay, he said he would continue to press forward with the matter. One way of doing this would be to resume work in January on the new amendments to the Constitution.

No Devolution Of Governor’s Powers

Another matter his Government will be pursuing is its recent decision, supported by other groups, including the Concerned Citizens, to press for amendments to the Constitution that would lead to full internal self-government. Mr. Fleming said the UK Minister, who is new in her job, told him and his delegation that she had heard about Anguilla’s quest for full internal self-government.

“She might not have been versed in a lot of areas, but she was versed in this one because she spoke exactly like all the rest [UK Ministers] that the British Government was not prepared to entertain any discussion with regards devolution of the powers of the Governor,” the Chief Minister reported. “She said ‘you can bring your case but you know what your options are.’ She told us that if we are not satisfied with what they want to do, we can set a time-table for independence…”

Asked what position the Anguilla Government would now take, Mr. Fleming replied: “That will not stop us from pursuing what we think is applicable to Anguilla status wise. We will still push for full internal self-government, irrespective. If they come back and say ‘we are not going to do it, bring your time-table for independence,’ when we reach to that border we will try our best to cross it.”

Mr. Fleming reported on other matters dealt with during the separate meeting on Anguilla. He said the British Minister and other officials were asked by his delegation to consider some aviation arrangements involving the neighbouring French and Dutch islands and Anguilla. He explained that recently Anguilla was having some problems with its carriers going into St. Barths and St. Maarten.

He was pleased to have been assured that Britain would set up a tripartite system with its European colleagues to provide problem-free aircraft movement among the three islands. “At present we are having some problems, more so with the French, whereby the people in St. Barths believe that they can come to Anguilla as often as they want to, but our planes cannot go there as often as they want to. It must be reciprocal.”

The Chief Minister said the next matter was the extension of the contracts of the three British police officers who are being paid by the Anguilla Government. “The price to have them here is not cheap but we believe that their presence is good at this time,” he stated. “We are asking them [the British] to do two things. One is to agree to the extension of the contracts and the other is to look at the possibility of providing some more assistance for Anguilla. I must tell you the truth that I said to them what I would like them to do is to look at someone to come and help the Commissioner in these times. I am talking about somebody high up who can lend support to the entire Force but particularly to the Commissioner.” According to him the British Government has undertaken to meet that need.

The discussions also included access to information and procedures for Anguillian students wishing to apply to UK Colleges and Universities. There was also a request to assist with the building of capacity for the Immigration, Customs and Police Departments in connection with the movement of people as well as illicit drugs and weapons. The request includes the provision of patrol boats and is favourably being considered. Agreement was also reached on the training of personnel in these departments. Another request was for technical assistance in the Ministry of Finance in the area of budgetary forecasting and other services. Mr. Fleming added that the British officials were very accommodating and the Anguilla Government would continue to press forward on these and other issues.

CM Presses For Health Care For Anguillians

In another matter, Mr. Fleming said that at the OT Consultative Council Conference he chaired a session during which he spoke on access to UK health care. Among other matters, he told the media that four very sick people were allowed from Anguilla a year to receive free medical treatment in England. “I pushed the fact that that number was insufficient and that I would like to see the quota for Anguilla rise from four to ten or fifteen per year,” he said. “I made the point clear to them that the people of Anguilla cannot afford to go to the United States for medical attention. I told them I had my own experience whereby at a hospital in Florida my bills were US$4, 900 per night and how many of us can afford that? Maybe I could have because I had the necessary insurance and so on, but our people cannot and I got good support from the other Overseas Territories’ leaders.”

The Chief Minister went on: “I stayed on that constantly because I really want good care for the people of Anguilla. I raise the matter of kidney ailment. I said that at present we have about sixteen patients at the hospital who receive dialysis treatment every week. When I went on dialysis there were only four of us. Within a year and a half that number is up to 16 and the sad part of it is that there is no hope. They will stay on dialysis unto death. I said I can’t live with this so I am asking that there be a provision in England whereby our people could access transplants there. I said there might be a number of Anguillians who might be willing to donate a kidney, but they cannot afford to go to America…That is being looked at. He predicted that the number of kidney cases would rise especially with diabetes and high blood pressure being so prevalent in Anguilla. He is therefore hoping that his requests would be seriously considered. He added there were other ailments affecting Anguillians but those two he mentioned were “facing us head-on.”

CM: “I Was Shocked”

The Chief Minister told the local reporters that the conference was preceded, on December 3, by a session during which he had to give evidence to a Foreign Affairs Committee which deals with inquiries into the performance of the Overseas Territories.

“I was very shocked when I went to this inquiry,” he acknowledged. “What happened was that all Heads of Government were asked to give evidence to this Committee at the House of Commons…The questioned centred on our relationship as Overseas Territories, how we deal with [each other] and respond to any request, and I really had high praises for that. I thought that we really had a very good working relationship.

“We did not know that this Committee was looking at the way we run the territories be it from a financial or other standpoint. I answered clearly how I felt about Anguilla and I thought Anguilla was doing very well. But I was alarmed over one question they asked one of the Heads about corruption in his country and the way that he was spending money. They know all about these things. We think that we are not being watched, but they are watching everything we do.

“I was pleased to say that at no time was there any question dealing with corruption or misappropriation of funds or any indiscipline actions of myself or this Government raised at the inquiry. So it left me with a good feeling. It is very embarrassing when you listen to your colleagues having to answer questions like corruption and misuse of government funds.”

The Chief Minister added that all in all the conference went very well.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News