During her short official visit to Anguilla on January 9, 2017, Baroness Joyce Anelay, the UK Minister for the Overseas Territories, told Chief Minister Victor Banks that the role he played at the Joint Ministerial Council in London, in November 2016, was a signal of how Anguilla’s voice would be echoed and heard and she paid tribute to his work.
Now, Chief Minister Banks in turn heaped commendation on the British Minister in an interview with The Anguillian newspaper this week. “My first experience with Baroness Anelay was at the Joint Ministerial Council last November,” he recalled. “I found that through all the experiences that I have had at the Council at all levels, I thought that she managed the conference very well. Her interventions and her summaries of the issues that we discussed showed that she was very much prepared and involved in the issues that are of importance to the Overseas Territories. It is refreshing to know that you have a Minister who does not always rely on being scripted, but somebody who could very comfortably come out and talk to the issues with you in the sense that she is fully prepared and did her research on all the Overseas Territories – and the challenges that they face.”
Mr. Banks went on: “I invited her to come to Anguilla for the 50th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution. I thought it would be very symbolic that she came here at this time because I think the event is not the 30th of May. It is the entire 2017, and we must use the opportunity to highlight that journey during this entire year. I was happy that she came and had a chance to look at some of the projects that the British Government has provided funding for. Equally, she had an opportunity to talk about Anguilla; meet the actors involved at first hand; drive around the island and visit some of the sites including the children in the schools; and was able to have a good knowledge of what Anguilla is all about in the short time of her visit.
“Of course we had bilateral meetings with her at the Executive Council, and we talked about the critical issues that are facing Anguilla at this time. We also talked about Brexit because she has invited the Overseas Territories to come to London in February to discuss issues related to the Brexit situation. We will have an opportunity to give our input, and have an opportunity to understand what provisions the British Government is making for us in those new arrangements. I think that Baroness Anelay has really provided us with an opportunity to do that. She has promised to provide a consultancy report on the possible ways forward so that we don’t have to start from scratch, but actually have a discussion paper in which we can look at the various issues.
“I take a very personal liking to her because of the social aspects of our discussions, when the cameras and microphones were off, to have a feel of what kind of person she is. We had lunch with her, in a very casual atmosphere, the Governor and elected members of the House of Assembly. She was very forthcoming on the way she felt about the Overseas Territories. To my mind, she is genuine in her efforts to do something positive to contribute to the plight of the territories.”
Asked whether the Minister promised any assistance to the economic development of Anguilla, the Chief Minister replied:
“She now has a brand new pot of money that is being made available to the Overseas Territories specifically – something that was negotiated eighteen months ago. Through that fund, Anguilla has already begun to get support for some of our projects on the table. One of them is the further development of a new jetty in Sandy Ground. Equally, there are a number of other projects that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is working on to make sure we are putting ourselves in a position to benefit from them. I do not want to speak specifically of what those projects are because while we have presented a number of projects, we have to decide whether they are the ones that the funds will support.”
“Is one of them the airport,” Mr. Banks was asked.
“The former Minister of the Overseas Territories had promised that the UK Government would look very favourably on the development of the airport towards the second quarter of this year,” he replied. “An Infrastructure Advisor will be coming here and we will have the opportunity to engage him directly on providing a business case for the expansion of the airport. I think the job has already been done by a preliminary consultancy [but there will be a need to consider] what kind of financial mechanism should be put in place to implement the project – as well as some of the other issues that are critical to the expansion work going forward.
“Obviously, the airport is of great concern. We had a downgrade way back in August and we are now in a position where we feel comfortable that we can get back up to category 7. Within a week or so I believe we will be having another fire tender to provide that capability. The airport is an important project, and even more important are the challenges we face with access – and the need to create an expanded facility that can allow direct flights from some of the larger hubs like Miami and other parts of the United States flying directly to Anguilla and at least for charters at certain times. It is important that we do that to really improve the tourist arrivals in Anguilla.”
