Under
the Quarantine Act and the Regulations made under it, Anguillians and residents
of Anguilla returning home from certain countries that are experiencing
dangerous levels of the Covid-19 disease, such as the USA, must be taken
directly from the port they arrive at to an authorized place of quarantine. There, they are provided with lodging, medical
attention, security, food, and drink, all at the public expense. This lasts for a period of approximately two
weeks. They are not allowed to pay for
it. Even if they wish to pay for their
board and lodging, they are not permitted to do so. The rules, they are told, require that this
be a public expense. Millions of
dollars, I understand, have been disbursed by the past and present government on
this venture since quarantines started in March. This is an expense that was never budgeted for. It is money that we can ill afford. Our economy has tanked with the failure of
our tourism industry since the start of the year due to the pandemic.
The
House of Assembly should be asked to vote on a Bill to require persons who are detained,
quarantined, or placed in isolation, to pay the costs of their quarantine. Most if not all Anguillians will agree that
this is a necessary reform. It is unfair
to the Anguillian public that we should have to pay the costs incurred by
persons who choose to return to Anguilla at this time, and put us all to the
risk of contracting the disease. If returnees
wish to enjoy the comfort and safety of home, they should be willing to pay for
all associated costs incurred by their return from abroad. This has become the international standard,
and we will not be doing anything unusual in having our law ensure this.
Care
must be taken to ensure such a provision does not offend against our
constitutional right to freedom of movement.
There is an exception in cases of public health and safety. The necessary Orders must first be made by
the Governor and Executive Council under the Constitution and the Public Health
Act.
It
is a simple enough measure to enforce.
One of the conditions for permitting the return to Anguilla should be a
payment of a deposit, say US$10,000.00, per person into the Treasury. That would give the provision teeth. The deposit will be refunded, less the cost
of all disbursements associated with their quarantine, at the end of their
quarantine. If this proves too expensive
for any would-be returnee, he or she is not obliged to make the payment. They can simply stay where they are and save
the cost of returning.
The
duty to refund government’s costs should not be limited to persons who return
to Anguilla with the permission of the Quarantine Authority. It should extend to persons who enter
illegally. In the case of persons who
are caught illegally entering Anguilla in breach of the Quarantine Act or any
Regulations made under it, the Act should provide that one of the conditions
for their release from custody is the payment of a cash bond, say US$10,000.00,
to secure the refund to government of all costs incurred in their arrest and
detention and medical treatment including but not limited to transportation,
board, lodging, medical and other. It
should cover all costs of tracing and treating the persons who have encounter
the illegal entrant.
Nor
should this bond be limited to persons who want to return in the future. There is nothing legally impossible or
morally wrong in the law being drafted to authorize Government to demand a
refund of part or all the past costs paid in maintaining earlier returnees in
quarantine at the public expense. Every
effort should be made to recover the past costs incurred in relation to persons
who have been given permission under the Quarantine Act and its Regulations to
enter Anguilla since January 2020. This
may be hard on some of the persons and families affected. They can be given time to meet the refund,
and other terms. In suitable cases, perhaps
certified by the Department of Social Development after the application of a
Means Test, the law might even provide for exceptions to be made. In my view, most if not all the persons who
have had their quarantine expenses paid for by government should be obliged to
refund all the costs that were paid out of public funds.
What
is certain is that we cannot continue to meet this expense. We simply do not have the money in the public
purse. In one of his last speeches in
the House of Assembly, the outgoing Minister of Finance revealed that our projected
tax revenue for the year 2020 will be about one half of the amount
budgeted. Further, we do not know how
long the quarantine provisions will have to continue into the future. Given the irresponsible behaviour of the US and
certain other governments in dealing with their own infections, it might last
until well into 2022.
Since
I wrote the above paragraphs, someone has pointed out to me a draft Quarantine
(Amendment) Bill on the Order Paper for debate on 11 August. It is a noticeably short Bill. It provides,
“(1a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) the Quarantine Authority
may require persons who are detained, quarantined or in isolation pursuant to
this Act to pay in part or in full the expenses incurred by the Quarantine
Authority in detaining, quarantining or isolating such persons.”
This
is inadequate. It is a token
provision. It is for show only. It lacks teeth. It is filled with loopholes. It gives a power to charge the costs without
any mechanism for collection.
Bearing
in mind that the Constitution limits the power of the Assembly to pass an Act
restricting our freedom of movement, care must be taken to ensure that the
necessary State of Emergency and Public Health Orders and Proclamations are
renewed from time to time. The ones made
earlier this year all appear to have expired without being renewed. Without care being taken, any law restricting
entry into Anguilla by Anguillians may be unconstitutional and unenforceable.
And,
while we are on cost cutting measures, is there any reason why a 40% tax cannot
be imposed on all pensions previously paid to Ministers and
Parliamentarians? These payments have
been a huge drain on our Treasury. They
have met with universal condemnation in Anguilla. I do not have the exact figures at hand. We have all seen various sums circulating in
the media. If these are correct, we have
paid out tens of millions of dollars in the past several years in gratuities
and pensions to retiring parliamentarians.
They need to do their part now that we are in crisis. They need to refund some of this undeserved
largess they paid themselves. A 40% tax
should be immediately imposed retroactively on the pensions and gratuities of
every living parliamentarian who benefitted.
Retired parliamentarians and Ministers should be happy to agree to
refund 40% of the very generous pensions and gratuities paid to them. To answer the question at the start of the
paragraph, care will have to be taken to ensure that such an Act does not
offend against the protection of private property provision in the Anguilla
Constitution. If it does, then retired
parliamentarians will need to be shamed into making a voluntary return of their
ill-gained pensions.
Such
an essential reform, if legal, is not intended to be retroactive only. Entitlement to pension and gratuity for
future retirees should be reduced accordingly, ie, by 40%. Those who are presently in the House of
Assembly and in Government would be aware of how untenable and unsustainable
their overly generous pension provisions are.
There is no possible legal or moral objection that can be made to such a
reduction.
While
we are on the topic of curtailing benefits, why not extend the cuts to parliamentary
salaries and allowances? Anguillian
politicians are in receipt of a high level of remuneration that is not matched
in any other West Indian nation. We have
heard a previous Minister of Finance make a boast of the fact. The levels of salaries were set during the
1980s and 90s when money was flowing into the Treasury like water under a
bridge. Those days are now long
gone. We cannot afford these excessive
salaries any longer. Ministers and
Parliamentarians should agree in the public interest to reduce their salaries
and allowances by 40% with immediate effect.
Such a contribution would meet with universal acclaim and appreciation
in Anguilla.
Anguillians
join in calling on Dr Ellis Lorenzo Webster, the Hon Premier and Minister of
Finance, to move the necessary actions in the Executive Council. We urge all Ministers and Ministerial
Assistants to support these initiatives.
We call on all members of the Opposition to support these measures when
they arrive before them as a series of Bills for debate. We call on all members of the House of
Assembly to pass the reforms into law without undue delay.
