Both the Government and Opposition sides of the Anguilla House of Assembly were in full agreement with, and support of, three motions for duty-free concessions on Tuesday this week. The first motion, introduced by Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, was for concessions on equipment, furniture and other supplies imported by Malliouhana Hotel to get the property refurbished and back into operation after having been closed for more than two years.
The second motion, introduced by Minister of Home Affairs, Jerome Roberts, was to grant duty-free concessions to a solid waste company, formed by Allister Richardson of North Hill, to import a garbage collection and disposal vehicle. The third motion, moved by Chief Minister Hughes, was to grant concessions to Frangipani Resort to import solar panel equipment to reduce the cost of electricity to the property.
As regards the Malliouhana Hotel, Chief Minister Hughes said theduty-free exemptions were a commitment to the new owners of the resort, with whom the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February this year, to restore the hotel. It was pointed out by Minister Jerome Roberts that, in granting the exemptions, the Government was losing a total of $1,726, 275.
Former Government Minister, Edison Baird, who now sits on the Opposition side of the House, supported all three motions. In the case of Malliouhana Hotel, he said that while the Government was losing the above revenue from customs duties and other taxes, there were a number of benefits to be derived. These included the collection of a 5% Administrative Charge and the provision of jobs for the island’s growing number of unemployed persons.
Opposition Leader, Evans Rogers, also gave full support to the motion noting that it was a step in the right direction. He felt that the returns from the giveaway of customs duties could, in the end, far exceed the lost revenue. He pointed to the difficult economic situation facing Anguilla and the need for Government to encourage developers to invest in the island to bring relief to the unemployed and to put money into circulation. He hoped that similar duty-free concessions would be given to other developers as well – including the developer of the new CuisinArt Reef Hotel and villa project on the golf course. His main concern was the creation of employment on the island so that persons would be able to meet their various financial commitments.
Mr Rogers made a plea for Government to look seriously at providing some relief to the people of Anguilla by reducing duties on basic food items and school supplies. He said that many persons were facing great hardship and there was a need to provide some assistance to them.
Another Opposition Member, OthlynVanterpool, supported Mr Rogers’ call for Government to provide some easement of duties on food items and school supplies. He had no objections to the duty-free concessions for Malliouhana, but argued that workers in the hotel and tourism industry were complaining about being paid low wages. He urged the Government, that in considering granting duty-free concessions to developers, to look at the welfare of workers as well.
On the question of duty-free concessions for Frangipani’s solar project, Minister Evan Gumbs said he was not so happy to support the motion as the application had come from a hotel. He was nevertheless “1000% percent behind renewable energy, given the high cost of fuel and electricity rates.”
He went on: “I am very concerned about the people who cannot pay their electricity bills. I wish I could snap my fingers and we could have renewable energy, but there is a lot of work to be done.” At the same time, he was not certain that ANGLEC had sufficient grid available if many people were to turn to solar panels and renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Hughes said he stood in support of anybody who wanted “to import solar panels or any other sphere of renewable energy.” He observed that not only the citizens of Anguilla were complaining about the high cost of electricity, but developers as well were very concerned about the situation.
In reply to the Opposition Leader’s request for Government to grant duty-free concessions to CuisinArt, Mr Hughes disclosed that the Government had received an application from the developer to that effect. He said the matter would be discussed when the House of Assembly met again on Monday, September 2.
