Legacy Leaders Magazine


1995 18 July – Chances Peak volcano erupts for the first time in 350 years. Thousands are forced to evacuate. Many take up temporary residence in “safe areas” in the north; others flee to neighbouring Caribbean islands, New York and Britain.

August – Government declares a state of emergency.

December – Britain assists with rehabilitation programmes and grants millions of pounds in development aid.

1996 April – Britain announces that Montserratians will be granted residency and the right to work in the UK for up to two years.

1997 25 June – Soufriere Hills volcano erupts with devastating effects. Two-thirds of the island is left uninhabitable and 19 people are killed. Plymouth, the capital, is abandoned. Montserrat’s airport is closed, the island is accessible only by helicopter or boat.

1998 – Britain announces that Montserratians can apply for permanent residency.

2000 – Montserrat is put on an international list of territories deemed to be uncooperative in the fight against money-laundering. It is removed from the list in 2002 after promising to improve transparency.

2001 July – Eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano causes widespread disruption.

2002 May – British Overseas Territories Act grants British citizenship to Montserratians.

2003 July – Largest volcanic eruption since Chances Peak in 1995 destroys many buildings on the edge of the safe zone.

2004 August – US Department of Homeland Security revokes “temporary protected status” granted to US-based Montserratians in 1995.

2005 July – Gerald’s Airport opens, replacing the W H Bramble airport which was destroyed in 1997’s volcanic eruption.

2006 May/June – Elections: Lowell Lewis is sworn in as head of a coalition government after no one party gains enough seats to govern.

2009 September – Reuben Meade’s Movement for Change and Prosperity wins six of nine seats in parliamentary elections. Mr Meade becomes chief minister; a post he served in from 1991 – 1996.

2013 May – Montserrat, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands sign agreements on sharing tax information with Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain as part of an international drive against tax evasion.

2014 September – Donaldson Romeo’s newly-formed People’s Democratic Party sweeps to power in general election.

2019 November – A divided People’s Democratic Party loses the election to the Movement for Change and Prosperity under the leadership of Easton Taylor Farrell.



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