Montserrat Survey of Living Conditions (MSLC) Executive Summary

Montserrat Survey of Living ConditionsExecutive Summaryon a review of their Sustainable Development Plan 2008-2012 (SDP). This review provides an idealmechanism for some of the Poverty Action Programme recommendations to be rapidly incorporated intothe new version of the MSDP.2 Background and Context (Chapter 2)2.1 Geographic and Historical SettingMontserrat is one of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, lying 43km south-west of Antigua and64km north-west of Guadeloupe. It is approximately 102 sq km (16 km long and 11 km wide) andgrowing slowly due to volcanic deposits on the southeast coast of the island. The topography is entirelyvolcanic and very mountainous, with a rugged coastline with dramatic rock faced cliffs rising from the sea.Montserrat was populated by Arawak and Carib people when it was claimed by Christopher Columbus forSpain on his second voyage in 1493. The island fell under English control in 1632 when a group of Irishfleeing anti-Roman Catholic sentiment in Saint Kitts and Nevis settled there. The import of slaves startedat much the same time and an economy based on sugar, rum, arrowroot and Sea Island cotton wasestablished during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Slavery was abolished in 1834 following thegeneral emancipation of slaves within the British Empire which occurred in that year.Falling sugar prices during the nineteenth century had an adverse effect on the island's economy and in1869 the British philanthropist Joseph Sturge formed the Montserrat Company to buy sugar estates thatwere no longer economically viable. The company planted limes and started production of the island'sfamous lime juice, set up a school, and sold parcels of land to the inhabitants of the island, with the resultthat much of Montserrat came to be owned by smallholders.From 1871 to 1958 Montserrat was administered as part of the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands,becoming a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. It is currently one ofBritain’s remaining overseas territories with the Queen as head of state, a governor appointed by theQueen and a democratically elected Chief Minister.The last years of the 20th century, however, brought two events which devastated the island. In September1989, Hurricane Hugo struck the island with full force, damaging over 90 percent of the buildings andvirtually wiping out the then burgeoning tourist trade. Within a few years, however, the island had largelyrecovered - only to be struck again by the major eruptions of the Soufriere Hills volcano in 1995 and 1997.Two and half years of intense volcanic activity saw the southern, most populated and most fertile part ofthe island, evacuated and declared unsafe. Plymouth, the capital and the territory’s industrial, commercial,and government centre, was almost totally destroyed along with the island’s airport and hospital; manypeople lost their houses and had to be evacuated. Over half the population left and a steep economicdecline followed. Reconstruction efforts started in earnest in the early 2000s and the northern, habitablepart of the island now has government offices, schools, a hospital and an airport along with new housingestates and much improved roads. The island however remains largely dependent on assistance from theBritish Government.Montserrat Country Poverty Assessment, Final ReportHalcrow Group Limited, July 2012.ES2