Mr. Curtis Richardson
An investigative telephone call on Monday evening, June 8, to Anguilla’s Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Curtis Richardson, found him not on the island, but in Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. What are you doing there, he was asked by The Anguillian?
“I am right now looking at some new technology in water production,” he disclosed. “As you know, one of the major ways of addressing water production in Anguilla, over the years, has been reversed osmosis – using treated seawater. But there is a new technology that has come to my attention and I am here to see it for myself. I have done so all of today and I am very impressed thus far.
“It is now 5 o’clock where I am and it is 8 o’clock in the night in Anguilla. I spent the entire day at a facility looking at the protection for the new technology in water production, and I am anxious to come back to Anguilla to tell the Water Authority what I saw and what this new technology can do for Anguilla.
“Very interesting, Mr. Hodge, is the fact that this new technology now produces both water and electricity – all in the same device. So there is a lot of technology and it is growing by leaps and bounds. The new technology I have seen in Oregon is something that is even beyond solar. Solar energy, as you now, has its challenges in the night, but this new system is totally amazing. The people are very excited because they have tested it for six months and are very happy to go for a patent to release it to the United States. But they would be very happy to bring it onshore to Anguilla and have us as a model country for the rest of the world to come and see what this new technology can do.”
The Minister continued: “The people are very interested in coming but, as you know, the last Government had engaged a water plant and that has some challenges. When I get back home I have to see what those challenges are and how we can go ahead and bring the very best to the people of Anguilla. I would not want to pursue something that, after three or four years, it becomes obsolete and put the country back in a very difficult situation relative to water production. So when I am back home I will speak with persons working with me in the Government, and other authorities, and see what their thoughts are on what this investigative trip has revealed. And if they feel it is something to maximise the benefits to the people of Anguilla, I will be very willing to go in that direction.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Richardson, who has Mr. Othlyn Vanterpool as an Assistant in his ministry, briefly mentioned a planned meeting he will be having with farmers on Wednesday, June 10, at which both water and electricity were among the scheduled topics. “As far as the farmers in Anguilla are concerned we, in Government, are very interested to see how we can help them get better rates for water and electricity,” he also stated in Tuesday’s telephone discussion with The Anguillian. “Some of them have already gone ahead to try to help themselves by bringing in solar systems. That is to show you the extent to which people in Anguilla are serious about farming. They have spent significant sums of money to buy solar plants so that they can reduce their electricity costs and continue to be involved in farming.”
In another related matter, Mr. Richardson will leave Anguilla on Sunday, June 14, for a four-day meeting in Brussels involving delegations from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. He will be accompanied by his Permanent Secretary, Mr. Larry Franklin.
“We are going to deal with a lot of issues relative to alternative energy,” he revealed. “We will also have discussions in Brussels about grid-tie. CuisinArt has had some problems with the last Government relative to producing electricity and putting that electricity back into the grid for distribution. All of these things we will talk about during the conference in Brussels…”
