The Hon. Minister of Infrastructure in the Government of Anguilla is Mr. Curtis Richardson whose portfolio includes several other subjects and responsibilities.
At a recent meeting of the House of Assembly he said – after outlying a number of personal observations relating to various private development projects across the island – that “the people of Anguilla have a mind to work”. Accordingly, he called on the Government’s Ministry of Finance to create the economic and employment opportunities whereby the people of Anguilla can invest and derive various benefits thereby.
Mr. Richardson’s ministerial portfolio, itself, carries much responsibility for creating a number of the above opportunities. In that regard, and the overall development of Anguilla, he spoke in an interview with The Anguilian about five projects he has in mind as part of that effort.
“In 2016, we have five main projects which I believe the Government needs to align so that we can get on with some specific action regarding these projects,” he told the newspaper. “They are the Blowing Point Port Development; the Sandy Ground Jetty; the Airport Development and Expansion Project; the road that connects the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway with the George Hill Road to provide a bypass for travellers to [and from] the Blowing Point area; and the Sandy Ground Chapel Hill Road.”
The Minister gave a detailed explanation about the projects as follows: “Those are the five projects we will definitely be trying to get all the paper work in order for. We will hopefully accomplish some of them in 2016 and some will run over in 2017. I believe the Blowing Point project is an expensive project. Its construction should take us well into 2018, 2019 and probably into 2020. We will work hard towards getting the financial aspects and all the relevant engineering plans in place. Among the things already approved, in the design drawings, is the whole reconfiguration of the ferry terminal. But what I envision to have incorporated into the project is a shopping mall which someone is interested in financing – is coming to Anguilla later in the year – and I will be introducing that person to the Chief Minister.”
The Minister of Infrastructure continued: “For the Sandy Ground Jetty, we have two options. One is, specifically, that we can borrow the money from Social Security. It is about three to four million dollars. The second option is that we have a proposal from a financier who is interested in financing the project and giving Government four to five years to repay him at a particular low rate.
“As it relates to the Airport Development and Expansion Project, I am glad that this season a lot of people have another opportunity to see [the number of jets in Anguilla]. In a country you must have vision. As a young man I have travelled a lot and I will not sit in Government and allow the idea of expanding the airport to rest. I believe the time has come for Anguillians to travel from Anguilla straight to New York and direct from New York to Anguilla, and to do the same in the case of Miami and England. It does not have to happen every day, but it must happen at least once a week or once every two weeks. We must have the means of accessing these gateways so that we can raise the standard and viability of Anguilla as a major player in the world in terms of travel and a place for relaxation.
“People are getting a bit tired with a lot of the issues about ISIS and other travelling issues. They just can’t be bothered anymore to take four and five planes to get to a destination and to be sitting around for nine and twelve hours. Persons are now placing a high premium on their time and it is not good to encourage a lot of people to come to an island when they have to waste a lot of time getting there. So the time has come when we need to get busy with putting Anguilla where it ought to be.”
Asked whether he saw the airport project as one which should involve public/private partnership funding, Minister Curtis Richardson replied: “Presently, there are five people who have demonstrated to me, and they have yet to demonstrate to the Ministry of Finance, that they are capable [of investing in the airport]. But definitely from the information I have received, and the research I have done, all five persons are very capable and competent in approaching the airport project from one angle or another. Specifically, one of them has gone at length to have discussions with the Lakes [the landowners] who, as is known, are a very enterprising family who have been interested in doing the Conch Bay Project. Any expansion of the airport has to take into account the Lakes’ property. As is known, the family had some issues with Government before and, as the Minister of Infrastructure, I do not intend to become entangled in these sorts of issues. I intend to give everybody in Anguilla due respect regarding their property, and engage them in certain discussions. One of the [potential] developers of the proposed airport expansion has been sensible enough to approach the Lakes, and have an agreement with them as to how he intends to involve them in the overall expansion of the airport. That potential developer will therefore be a strong forerunner.
“There is another person who has the option of promoting vacation packages. He has his own airline, and so forth, and is also a strong forerunner. He only needs the airport to be extended a little over 8,000 feet to bring in his own airline. Each year he transports between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand people by marketing vacation packages for wealthy persons, students, the elderly and others…His business demands that the airport be expanded which is a different model to that of the other persons. Those persons have yet to justify how the airport expansion will work, but that developer has a business that he can bring to Anguilla – some two undred thousand to three hundred thousand people a year who are demanding airlift.”
The Minister went on: “In terms of roads, I recently made ‘a cut’ just to ensure that we could put a road from Chapel Hill down to Sandy Ground. I was successful in that regard even though the manner in which I did it didn’t meet a lot of approval, but I think everybody afterwards realised that it was possible. And so, with the support of my colleagues in Government, we were able to get the road into the budget for this year – and we intend to have that road properly constructed and opened for the people of Anguilla. That will be one of the first things that we will be working on. At the end of 2015 they [the technical and engineering personnel] had already begun to work on the preliminary drawings and assessments.”
Mr. Richardson also has responsibility for fishing and agriculture, among other sectors of the economy. “Fishing and agriculture represent another charge that I have,” he added. “I intend to work on them specifically and to promote them heavily in the New Year. But the five projects I outlined earlier are what I will mainly be pursuing.”
