United Kingdom - Montserrat

Status: UK overseas territory

Population: 5,910 (2008)

Time: GMT minus 4hr

Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar

Geography

Montserrat is one of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, lying 43km south-west of Antigua and 64km north-west of Guadeloupe.

Area: 102 sq km

Towns: Plymouth, once a thriving capital, is now a ghost town, buried beneath more than 1 metre of volcanic ash; Brades (de facto capital, pop. 1,310 in 2009), St Peter’s (790), St John’s and Salem.

Topography: Entirely volcanic and very mountainous, with a rugged coastline. There are three mountain ranges: Silver Hills in the north; Centre Hills and the Soufrière Hills Volcano in the south. There are hot springs, ravines, black-sand beaches, and a white-sand beach at Rendezvous Bay in the north. The two waterfalls were destroyed by the volcano.

Climate: Tropical, usually tempered by sea breezes. Rainfall averages 1,475mm p.a.; most rain falls in the second half of the year. June to November is the hurricane season.

Environment: Environmental issues are mainly related to the presence of the active volcano on the island, but another significant issue is land erosion on slopes that have been cleared for cultivation.

Vegetation: Tropical; prior to the resumption of volcanic activity, mountain areas close to the volcano were thickly forested, with fruit and vegetables grown in the cultivated areas. But successive eruptions and pyroclastic flows reduced these areas to a scarred lunar-type landscape and it will be many years before they can be cultivated again.

Transport/Communications: Many roads were damaged, destroyed or made inaccessible by volcanic activity. A new roads infrastructure has been built in the north of the island.

Plymouth, the only seaport with a harbour capable of handling cargo vessels, closed in June 1997. A new port facility has been constructed at Little Bay in the north and there is a ferry service to Antigua.

The nearest international airport is in Antigua, from where planes flew to W H Bramble Airport on the east side of the island. The airport was closed in June 1997 and helicopter services operate from Gerald’s Heliport to Antigua (20 minutes’ flying time). A new airport was opened in 2005.

The international dialling code is 1 664. There are 474 main telephone lines, 508 mobile phone subscriptions and 203 internet users per 1,000 people (2008).

Society

Population: 5,910 (2008); 14% lives in urban areas; population density 58 per sq km; population was 10,639 at the 1991 census; life expectancy 79 years.

Most of the people are of African descent, with some of European (mainly Irish) and some of mixed descent and, prior to the renewed volcanic activity, a number of retired North Americans.

Religion: Mainly Christians (Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists).

Language: English

Media: The Montserrat Reporter is published weekly.

Education: There are ten years of compulsory education starting at age five. Net enrolment ratios are 92% for primary and 96% for secondary (2007). The pupil–teacher ratio for primary is 16:1 and for secondary 12:1 (2007). The school year starts in September.

Tertiary education is provided at the regional University of the West Indies, which has campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Adult literacy is more than 90%.

Health: The Glendon Hospital has been relocated to the north of the island. Though very unpleasant, there is no evidence to suggest that ash falls have created any serious health problems other than those stemming from respiratory problems.

Public holidays: New Year’s Day, St Patrick’s Day (17 March), Labour Day (first Monday in May), Queen’s Official Birthday (Monday in June), August Monday (first Monday in August), Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Festival Day (31 December). St Patrick’s Day is followed by a week of celebrations, and there are celebrations throughout 15 December–1 January.

Religious and other festivals whose dates vary from year to year include Good Friday, Easter Monday and Whit Monday.

Economy

GDP: US$49m (2008)

GDP p.c.: US$8,270 (2008)

Tourist arrivals: 7,000 (2008)

Overview: In the 1980s, the main economic activities were agriculture and tourism (especially luxury villa holidays) with some light engineering. Hurricane Hugo destroyed 90% of infrastructure in September 1989, severely damaging the tourism and agriculture sectors.

Since then the main economic activity has been reconstruction, which suffered a major setback when volcanic activity began in 1995. GDP fell from EC$163 million in 1995 to EC$91 million in 2000. Montserrat’s economy and infrastructure have been rebuilt in the 2000s, including a new airport (opened in 2005) and ferry port.

Aid: The damage to the economy, first by Hurricane Hugo and then by the volcanic activity, has made Montserrat heavily dependent on aid. Main aid partners are the UK and Canada.

History

Montserrat was sighted by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage in November 1493. He named it Santa Maria de Montserrate after the Abbey of Montserrate near Barcelona. In 1632, the island became a British colony although the first settlers were largely Irish. More Irish settlers followed, driven out of Virginia in an anti-Catholic purge.

Enslaved Africans were brought to the island to work tobacco, indigo, cotton and sugar plantations. In 1678 the population consisted of 992 slaves and 2,682 mainly Irish-descended planters. By 1805 there were 9,500 slaves and about 1,000 settlers of European descent. Montserrat was captured by the French on three occasions for short periods but was finally restored to Britain in 1783.

The abolition of slavery in 1834 and falling sugar prices during the 19th century had an adverse effect on the island’s economy. Moreover, the island has suffered frequent damage from hurricanes and earthquakes.

In 1869, the philanthropist Joseph Sturge of Birmingham formed the Montserrat Company. This company bought up the estates that were not economically viable, planted limes, started production of the island’s famous lime juice, set up a school and sold smallholdings to the inhabitants, with the result that much of modern Montserrat is owned by smallholders.

From 1671 Montserrat and the other Leeward Islands were administered by a captain-general and commander-in-chief. In 1871 the Leeward Islands became a federal colony with a governor. The federation was abolished in July 1956, and Montserrat became a colony in its own right. In 1958 it joined the Federation of the West Indies; in 1962, when the Federation broke up, it gained separate administration; and in 1971 the administrator was promoted to governor.

From the time the People’s Liberation Movement (PLM) took power from the Progressive Democratic Party in 1978, independence became a dominant issue of Montserrat politics. The PLM, under the leadership of John Osborne, retained its majority through the elections of 1983 and 1987.

However, the plans to push ahead to independence were frustrated by a series of misfortunes. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo devastated the island and made Montserrat dependent on aid for reconstruction. In 1990, there were irregularities in the offshore banking sector, which led to an investigation by police officers from the UK’s Scotland Yard, followed by prosecutions and deregistration of many foreign banks. The government then thoroughly overhauled the sector and imposed more stringent controls.

Constitution

Montserrat is an internally self-governing UK overseas territory. Government is executed through a governor appointed by the British monarch, an executive council, which has the general control and direction of government, and a legislative council. The governor retains responsibility for external affairs, defence, internal security, the public service (as head of the civil service) and offshore finance.

The executive council is presided over by the governor and also includes the chief minister, the financial secretary, the attorney-general and three other ministers. The legislative council has nine directly elected members and two official members. Elections are held at least every five years.

In 1989, the constitution, formerly comprising various bills and acts, was consolidated into one document and came into force on 13 February 1990.

Politics

Last elections: September 2009

Next elections: 2014

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the governor

Head of government: Chief Minister Reuben Meade

In the 1991 elections, the newly formed National Progressive Party (NPP), led by Reuben Meade, gained the majority. Economic recovery following Hurricane Hugo was set back by two hurricanes in 1995. The Soufrière Hills Volcano reactivated in July 1995 after a lengthy period of dormancy. With the volcano increasing in vigour, the capital Plymouth and most of the population from the south of the island were evacuated to the safety of the north in April 1996. In due course an exclusion zone comprising roughly the southern two-thirds of the island was established.

The general election of November 1996 led to no overall majority for any party. The Movement for National Reconstruction (MNR) led by Bertrand Osborne formed a coalition government supported by former Chief Minister Meade from the NPP and an independent. In August 1997, Bertrand Osborne resigned when three of his ministers withdrew their support. David Brandt, a lawyer and independent, formed a government.

The volcano erupted again with greater vigour on 25 June 1997. Pyroclastic flows swept down the north face of the volcano resulting in the deaths of 19 people. The deaths occurred in areas which had been declared out of bounds due to the threat of volcanic activity. The main part of the deserted capital, Plymouth, was destroyed in August 1997. There were, both in early August and late September, series of vigorous explosions, and then the largest pyroclastic flow to date occurred on Boxing Day 1997, destroying villages within the exclusion zone.

In April 1996 Montserratians resident on the island on 1 April 1996 had been offered resettlement in the UK provided they were able to travel at their own expense and 1,500 people took up this offer. By August 1997, with the situation worsening, the UK Government offered to pay airfares for those who wished to resettle in the UK or other parts of the Caribbean. By 1998 some 3,500 Montserratians had evacuated to the UK, 3,000 to neighbouring countries and 3,500 remained on the island.

In July 1998 scientists judged that the volcano had entered a period of repose, though in areas surrounding the volcano danger would remain for some years, but in November 1999 it became active again and there were further eruptions in March and June 2000 and July 2001. The largest eruption since 1997 occurred in July 2003. There were no human casualties, but agriculture was devastated and the entire island was covered in ash.

In April 2001, the New People’s Liberation Movement under the leadership of John Osborne won an early general election with seven seats; the remaining two seats were taken by the National Progressive Party led by Meade.

In the May 2006 general election the Movement for Change and Prosperity took four seats, the governing New People’s Liberation Movement three, Montserrat Democratic Party one and independents one. Dr Lowell Lewis of the Montserrat Democratic Party received the support of the majority of the new legislative council and became chief minister.

The general election of September 2009 was won by the Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCP), which took six seats; independents gained the other three, leaving the Montserrat Democratic Party without representation in parliament. MCP leader Reuben Meade was sworn in as chief minister.

Further information

The Montserrat Reporter (weekly newspaper): http://www.themontserratreporter.com/

Radio Montserrat (public broadcaster): http://www.zjb.gov.ms/