On page three of this edition of The Anguillian is a letter from the United Kingdom’s Minister for the Overseas Territories, Mr. James Duddridge, to Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks. In summary, the letter states that Mr. Duddridge has approved the decision of the Anguilla Air and Seaports Authority (AASPA) to obtain a loan of up to EC$4million to finance urgent repairs to the Road Bay Jetty. As a safeguard, the Anguilla Government is to guarantee 80% of that financing or EC$3.2 million. In addition, Mr. Duddridge in principle committed the British Government to fund a new roll-on-roll- off pier as a second stage of that investment.
Chief Minister Banks, speaking on behalf of the Anguilla Government, told The Anguillian that he was grateful to Mr. Duddridge and the British Government for responding to his request for assistance in such a timely manner. He said that the Road Bay Jetty was in a dangerous situation and he was pleased that the UK Government was now on board in addressing that matter.
Minister of Infrastructure with responsibility for ports in Anguilla, Mr. Curtis Richardson, expressed delight with the British Government’s approval of the proposed loan and complimented a number of officials for their efforts towards that end.
“This is just the outcome of good work by the Ministry of Infrastructure under me, as the Minister responsible for that section in the Government, and also the Honourable Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks,” he told The Anguillian. “We spearheaded the first leg of the work and I would like to thank Mr. Larry Franklin, my Permanent Secretary, and Mr. Marcel Fahie, Chairman of the Board of the Anguilla Air and Sea Ports Authority, and its entire membership.”
Mr. Richardson continued: “When I came to office I realised that we had some very serious problems with the jetty at Sandy Ground. We campaigned that we would fix it and this is exactly what we intend to do shortly. It involved a lot of mental work and I had all the necessary people working with me. Thank God for the Permanent Secretary and the Chairman of the Board, we were able to go forward in a very short time and put ourselves in a very good position.
“One of the things that we strategized on for going forward was that, given the financial constraints of Government right now, we should try to do a three-pronged approach which is really build, finance and design. We put out a procurement process for people to tender on involving those three components. You had to be able to design it, finance it, and then build it yourself.
“We had three or four persons who bid through the process and the tender was awarded to Windward Islands Construction. Following that process, and our success with awarding someone the contract, we had a little technical matter to deal with financially. That is where Mr. Banks and his Ministry came in very strongly. It had to do with getting permission from the British Government [to obtain a loan] because we are already at the limits of the borrowing gui
delines.
“In the agreement, the Government of Anguilla has to be the guarantor for the Anguilla Air and Sea Ports Authority with respect to 80% financing by the person who got the bid and 20% by AASPA. So the Government is basically backing the arrangement – not putting in money – but backing the arrangement if anything should go wrong.
“The British Government felt that it was a good approach and that they did not foresee any problem with it. It was something that AASPA, as well as the Government, should be able to manage. They also gave us a further commitment that not only would they encourage the first phase of repairing the jetty in the short term, but that they will be putting in financial support for a second phase. That will be another wharf alongside, or around, the present jetty, for roll-on/roll-off facilities. There are a lot of boats coming in now with ramps, that can go up and down and in that way you can drive on or off forklifts and other equipment. You don’t have to use a crane so it is much faster to roll-on and roll-off. So we will have a proper facility in Sandy Ground in the second phase to address that need. It is going to be good because right now the Government is gearing up to do a lot of major investment sometime shortly after September. We should start to see a lot of movement in Anguilla and going on to 2017 a significant change in the dynamics of work here in Anguilla.”
Asked when the jetty project is likely to start, Mr. Richardson replied: “Now that everything is at this stage, we just have to go to the House of Assembly at the end of this month to give the guarantee on the financing structure for AASPA. I just saw a letter from the Chairman because he wants the matter mobilised as the jetty is in a very bad condition. We have had reports, since coming to office, that it can collapse at any time and we don’t want that because that is the main facility for importation of cargo. We are really in a crisis mode and so we are looking to begin the project by early June to have that addressed for the people of Anguilla.”
The Minister said that Windward Islands Construction, which was awarded the project, operates around the Caribbean building various piers and roads. He believes the company has associations in Anguilla who were also part of the procurement process.
Mr. Richardson further stated: “I went out there and did an honest election campaign. I have a lot of capabilities, but I also have my limitations. One of the things I recognise is that the hand of the good Lord is upon me. He has given me capable people to work with. Every step of the way He has enlightened my mind in getting the right people. I felt from day one, when I was elected, that the man I wanted to be the Chairman for AASPA would be Marcel Fahie because I recognised from all the conversations in Anguilla that you need to have somebody with Mr. Fahie’s capacity for paper work. I felt he would have been ideal because, as I said, there is a lot of paper work to be done – not only for the jetty, but more so the airport. Some people overlook the fact that you also must have a good working relationship with your Permanent Secretary. Sometimes Mr. Franklin and I clash, but I always try every day to maintain a spirit of collaboration and cooperation between us.”
Mr. Richardson added: “For us, as a Government, in one year to get the British Government to agree to give us significant financing to do the airport, tells you that we have done a lot of paper work behind the scenes. This shows that as the Minister responsible for Infrastructure, I am genuinely interested in the realisation of the airport project for the people of Anguilla.”
Meanwhile, it is understood that there were discussions to the effect that the British Government would provide between 40 and 50 million pounds in capital financing towards the airport project. Mr. Richardson is of the view that the cost of such a single project would be substantially higher. “I think the airport project, when we do the business case and a proper study, should cost in excess of 100 million pounds,” he stated. “I believe the British Government recognises that Anguilla is a special place…I think it is time for them to step up in a serious way, and I think they are prepared to do so. I would predict the cost of the airport project will be over 100 million pounds.”
In the meantime, the repair of the Road Bay Jetty is now on the front burner.
