Anguilla's Chief Minister Responds to Calls for His Resignation

[JOH]

Anguilla -- July 12, 2007 -- Fellow Anguillians, you would recall that after 9/11 in 2001, Anguilla was facing a serious recession. At the beginning of 2002, we were at least twenty million dollars in deficit and had no reserves. At the time we feared that salaries for the public service could not be met, and Anguilla was slipping deeper and deeper into debt with no hope of recovery if we did not see a significant turnaround in our economy.

After much hard work and planning we were able to devise a plan for
economic recovery. As of today we have a recurrent surplus of forty
million dollars and in this fortieth anniversary of our revolution we have
forty million dollars in reserve and effective July 2007 a 20% salary
increase will be rewarded to our hard working civil servants, pensioners
and non-established workers.

By the end of 2002 our plan was beginning to work and in that year we
promised you that there was light at the end of the tunnel. As
Anguillians we can all agree that we have experienced the positive
benefits of this light. Not only Anguillians but non-Anguillians as well.
Anguillians have seen their standard of living improved.

You have invested in new vehicles, new homes, home improvements as
well as other personal ***ets because of the increased economic activity on the island. Not only have we invested on a personal level but we have also invested in various forms of business activities – retail stores, villas, apartments and other real estate, heavy equipment, construction companies, taxis, law firms and other professional services. You have done this because you felt confident of Anguilla’s future.

Our tourism industry has been growing steadily and bountifully. Visitor
arrivals have been increasing on an annual basis. Both local and foreign investment in the tourism industry have increased over the past five years – car rentals, restaurants, water-sports, villas, hotels, etc. Anguilla as a tourism destination has a very positive image in the market place.

When a Caribbean vacation is being planned, Anguilla is top of the mind for travelers. Our image in the marketplace both from a tourism and investment standpoint has been outstanding. We have appeared on all the major networks in the United States including NBC, CBS, BET and ABC. There is full employment on Anguilla and those who are not working are those who have decided not to look for or accept a job.

From an economic standpoint Anguilla is experiencing unprecedented economic growth. Amidst this economic progress however, Anguilla, like our Caribbean neighbours and the world at large, has been experiencing serious social challenges. There are no quick fixes to these social issues. We all know that global influences have impacted us. Deviant behaviour, lack of spirituality, absence of discipline and the like, stem from a variety of factors. As a government we recognize that we must continue to work overtime and with all our partners in the church, community and civil society to address these problems and fix them.