The independent candidate for Valley North,(District 3), Sutcliffe Hodge, told constituents that he had been reliably informed that there would be no budget speech this year. Secondly, he was further informed by at least two sources that there was a draft budget for 2010 but that it had a significant increase in taxes for the people of Anguilla.

Mr. Sutcliffe Hodge

He therefore charged that this was the reason for the absence of a budget speech which was normally talked about by the Ministry of Finance around this time of the year.

Those were two of the many issues on his mind. He spoke about them and other matters at a public meeting in the Cauls Bottom area on Sunday night, December 13, when he was joined by a number of other platform speakers. He stressed that during a period of economic contraction or decline, the last thing a Government should do was to increase taxes. Instead, there was a need at such a time to increase the money supply by reducing taxes.

He was of the view that since the beginning of the year it was evident that the revenue targets would not meet the cost of expenditure and from then the Government should have begun to cut costs. He observed that rather than doing so Government Ministers’ [and Civil Servants’] salaries had been increased by 25% in December 2008, an unprecedented move in most places around the world. He hastened to say, however, that even today the Civil Servants were being underpaid because runaway inflation was allowed to flourish in the island over the past three or four years, thus reducing the people’s purchasing power. He thought the salary increases were irresponsible when it was clear that the recession was approaching and had already hit other countries. He acknowledged that some Civil Servants benefitted handsomely, but they deserved it – the only problem was the timing of the pay increases.

Mr. Hodge said he expected the facts surrounding “the borrowing of 12 million dollars from Dominica would eventually come out,” but he thought it was embarrassing that the Anguilla public learnt about the matter from the Dominican Prime Minister during a rally in his island. “There are different versions about what actually happened, but the version that I believe is that the Government of Anguilla was not responsible in managing the financial affairs of this country and as a consequence, they had to go on their knees to other Caribbean countries seeking assistance,” he charged. “Whether that 12 million dollars was gotten in whole, or in part, from Dominica, is irrelevant. What is relevant is that we did not have the credit on our own to go and get that 12 million dollars. And what is also a fact is that if the affairs of this country were properly managed, it would not have been necessary in the first place for us to find ourselves in the embarrassing situation, being insulted by the British Government about what we can or cannot borrow.”

The former top-ranking Cable and Wireless/LIME executive, who said that some of his natural strengths were in cost management and revenue generation, said there was too much luxury in Government in terms of high salaries and vehicles. He emphasised that the island’s economy could not afford that luxury and there was a need to rebuild the economy and find a way to contain costs.

He pledged that any national government, in which he hoped to be a part, would endeavour to find a way to maximize the use of currently available revenue before giving consideration to new taxes. He said there was a need for responsibility and prudent spending. He suggested that one of the ways to have more money without imposing taxation was for Government to collect outstanding revenue owed to the Treasury. He charged that thousands of dollars collected in accommodation taxes on behalf of Government had not been paid in and that this was a source of financing which needed to be looked into.

The newcomer to the political arena said there was need for a fixed minimum wage and he expressed disappointment in particular over what he termed as the “slave wages’ being paid to hotel workers. On the question of employment at development projects, he was emphatic that the people of Anguilla should be in the forefront as beneficiaries of the building of the island. He indicated that it was more costly to import foreign workers to do ordinary jobs which Anguillians were qualified to perform, and not having unnecessary outside labour was a way to retain money on the island.

Mr. Hodge was critical of the level of medical care for the elderly in Anguilla. He said that while senior citizens were required to pay for treatment in Anguilla, the situation was different in Dominica, for example, where, despite of that island’s per capita being less than half of that of Anguilla, elderly persons were receiving free medical care. He charged that welfare benefits were discontinued in Anguilla in 2000 and had never been restored. He called for a show of real love and compassion for the elderly.
The eloquent speaker noted that in a recent radio broadcast the Minister of Finance had stated that some 120 elderly persons were receiving old age benefits, but he argued that social security benefits were not welfare benefits. He estimated that there were some 1200 persons over the age of 65 which meant that over 1000 of them were without any form of assistance. “I don’t think that the payment of a welfare benefit is the responsibility of social security,” he surmised. “Social security is owned by the people who made contributions to social security and as a nation we [should] find the money.”
In the case of young people, Mr. Hodge said he was against unlawful behaviour, but he was of the view that some youngsters were being unfairly treated and punished while there were double standards for persons at other levels in society who were getting away lightly for certain wrongdoing. “We don’t have any bad young people here,” he stated. “They just need some guidance, some love, some caring. I have sat down with these young people and I tell you they just want a reason for hope, a reason to believe in us. They want to see truth and honesty and transparency. They are sick and tired of the double standards.”

Mr. Hodge called for the rebuilding of the spirit of voluntarism whereby young people, in particular, would be willing to become involved in building the new Anguilla spoken so much about. “One of the things some young people asked me to consider …is that we have got to rebuild our volunteer community effort,” he added. “You remember those days when we used to clean up the Stoney Ground Road, The Valley Road and the Farrington Road? The young people want these things to come back. We have to do it. Voluntarism is alive and well in this country but, my fellow Anguillians, we have to change the conscience of the people and when we change the conscience of the people, we will have changed the conscience of the leaders.”

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