APPENDIX 2
Letter from HE Ronald Sanders, CMG, High
Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda, to the Clerk of the Committee
On the instructions of my Government, I write
concerning a most unseemly discussion which took place in your
Committee on 5 May 1998 when evidence was being taken from the
Secretary of State in the Department for International Development,
the Rt Hon Clare Short, in the context of the problems being faced
by the people of Montserrat at home, in the United Kingdom and
in Antigua where the majority has taken refuge.
Your Chairman state that "Antigua does
not have a particularly good reputation for spending money on
those things which other people have given them money to spend
on. I am very keen that it is actually spent on what you, Secretary
of State, have agreed it should be spent on". In response
the Secretary of State said, "If I could say diplomatically,
we are aware of the record and we are doing our best to ensure
the money is spent on the agreed objectives. I think we are fairly
confident that we have got procedures to ensure that is done".[21]
My Government was most disappointed at this
exchange, particularly as Antigua and Barbuda has burdened itself
by assisting the people of Montserrat who are, and remain, the
responsibility of the British government. My Government has responded
favourably to every request it has received from the British Government
in relation to Montserrat, and we consider this exchange at so
high a level not only to be a poor reward for our support of Britain
and Montserrat, but also unbecoming of the situation. As two of
the members of your Committee observed, potentially libellous
statements were made during this unfortunate exchange.
The facts of the matter are that the British
Government offered to provide the Government of Antigua and Barbuda
with a grant of £3 million to cater for the excessive burden
that had been placed on the country's health and education facilities
by the introduction of over 3,000 people to our population of
65,000. That offer was made in September 1997, almost nine months
ago. Since then only the very small sum of £140,000 has actualy
been spent by the United Kingdom although £2.68 million has
been allocated to projects in education and health. Over that
entire period, my Government has continued to carry the burden
of the British refugees from Montserrat whose numbers, at one
time, reached 4,000. Today, there are less than 3,000 people in
Montserrat, approximately 3,000 in the United Kingdom and about
3,500 on Antigua.
Your Committee should also be aware that Montserratians
have been fleeing to Antigua since July 1995, therefore the burden
on the Antigua and Barbuda Government has been persisting now
for three years. It is worth repeating that, in all that time,
the British government has disbursed only £140,000 to buy
a bus, school books and provide school places for 100 Montserratian
childrena smaller number than the actual Montserratian
children who have taken up school places. My Government and the
people of Antigua and Barbuda have carried this burden without
complaint.
With regard to the balance of the £2.68
million which has been allocated, these funds are fully controlled
by the British Government's agency located in Barbados. That agency
has agreed with the authorities in Antigua that funds will be
spent as follows:
£1.53 million
to build four small health clinics, provide
equipment for the Holberton Hospital; provide equipment to a home
for the aged and infirm;
£140,000
spent on the purchase of a bus, school books
and providing class room space for 100 Montserratians.
My Government would be grateful if you would
share this letter with all the members of your Committee.
Ronald M Sanders, CMG
High Commissioner
4 June 1998
21 See p. 31. Back
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