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Healthcare, childcare and unemployment programmes among those receiving some of the audit's most serious findings. Share A newly released federal audit from the US Virgin Islands is raising questions that extend far beyond a single Caribbean territory. While the findings focus on government programmes in the islands, they also highlight a challenge faced throughout the region: how can governments ensure that public money, disaster recovery funds and social programmes are properly managed, monitored and protected? The audit examined how federally funded programmes were administered by the Government of the Virgin Islands and identified significant compliance failures across eight major programmes, including Medicaid, children's health insurance, childcare assistance, unemployment insurance and coronavirus recovery funding. Independent auditors issued adverse compliance opinions, one of the most serious findings available during a government...
Remembering James Ronald Webster Today: The Visionary Who Led Anguilla to Self‑Determination
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James Ronald Webster’s birthday is never just a date on the calendar for Anguillians — it is a moment of collective remembrance, gratitude and pride. Born on 2 March 1926 in Island Harbour, he rose from humble beginnings to become the driving force behind the Anguillian Revolution and the island’s first Chief Minister. His leadership helped end the federation with St Kitts and Nevis in 1967, setting Anguilla on a path toward self‑determination and a political identity shaped by its own people.
Before becoming a political leader, Webster worked on a dairy farm owned by the Richardson family in St. Martin from the age of 15. He eventually managed the entire operation. Image Credit: Alamy.
Webster passed away on 9 December 2016 at the age of 90, but his influence has only grown since. Anguillians remember him not as a distant political figure, but as a man who fought tirelessly for their dignity, a leader who believed that small islands deserved big futures.
His legacy is so deeply woven into the nation’s fabric that he is officially recognised as Anguilla’s only National Hero, honoured annually on James Ronald Webster Day. Schools, community groups and families continue to teach his story as a reminder that courage is not measured by size, but by conviction.
In recent years, Anguilla has marked his birthday with even greater reverence. On the centenary of his birth, the island declared a public holiday and held a week of celebrations, from educational programmes to community events, all designed to ensure that younger generations understand the magnitude of what Webster achieved.
Webster made regional history as the first Seventh‑day Adventist to lead a Caribbean nation or territory. His political involvement was controversial within the church, but he believed serving Anguilla was a moral duty. Image Credit: JRW Facebook page.
These commemorations are not ceremonial; they are emotional, rooted in the lived experience of a people who know that without Webster’s defiance, their island’s destiny might have been written by others. James Ronald Webster is more than a historical figure. He is the embodiment of their resilience, their unity and their belief in shaping their own future.
His story continues to echo across the island, in classrooms, in government, in the pride of everyday citizens. Today, as Anguilla reflects on his birthday, the nation does so with full hearts, remembering a man who stood up for them when it mattered most and whose legacy still guides the island forward.
