The Hon. Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, upon returning from a visit to the UK and Brussels, with his delegation, called a press conference to report on the results of his meetings for the acquisition of funding for vital government projects following the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Mr. Banks stressed: “It is common knowledge that we have received a grant of 60,000,000 pounds from the UK government. These funds are earmarked for the restoration of important projects, and we hope that nothing causes any delay in the implementation of these projects.
“While we had discussions about the conditions under which these funds would be delivered, we are very much concerned that these conditions would not impact the delivery of the vital funds for critical projects like the reconstruction of the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School, the reconstruction of the terminal at Blowing Point, as well as the issue of access.
“The discussions on conditions, to my mind, were very cordial. We now have in place in Anguilla a Financial Specialist who will be working with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that we put together those pre-requirements and have a clear lead to the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Treasury, as to how we will manage and operate those funds. The Financial Specialist’s name is Mr. Steven Turnbull, who has worked in the Caribbean before.”
Mr. Banks continued: “Mr. Turnbull worked in Montserrat as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands. All my research has told me that he is a very hardworking young man, and that he has worked quite successfully with the local governments in every territory in which he has served. I had the opportunity to meet with him yesterday, (Monday, February 26th) and I let him know where we are at in terms of the recovery and what we expected from the British Government in terms of their response.
“It is important that this response be efficient, effective and swift. The issues of the financial arrangement are important. But if these projects are not implemented in a timely manner, there could be a serious impact on our budgetary outcomes going forward. We did very well in our discussions in London. We made the case, and now we have to do the work.”
Mr. Banks had high praise for the officers in his Ministry. He said: “I am very proud of the staff in the Ministry of Finance for the hard work they have done over the last few months since Hurricane Irma. They are ensuring that we have everything in place, so that by April 1st there will be a number of projects that are ready to go. The Ministry of Infrastructure also has its team in place, which is working on the more technical aspects of the rebuilding. They are developing the proposals to ensure that the implementations take place in a timely manner.”
The Chief Minister then made mentioned of his trip to Brussels: “We went to Brussels for a four-day meeting, the first part of which was with the UK Overseas Territories.” He reported, “There, we had a special caucus meeting, where the entire grouping of Overseas Territories came together to share their common interests. We also had bilateral meetings with the European Commission where we discussed the funding that we were able to acquire under ‘envelope B’. These are funds put together as a response by the European Union to those islands that have been affected by disasters in the last few months. At that meeting we were able to sign off on an agreement for 2.8 milion euros, in addition to the tranche of funds which we would be receiving from the UK in April.”
Minister of Infrastructure, the Honorable Mr. Curtis Richardson explained that he was just present to give support to the Chief Minister. He said that his work going forward was really dependent on the funds to be received from the UK grant.
“We have come up with a schedule and have been doing some prioritization as to what projects we will roll out first, in expectation of those funds.” He went on: “To all of contractors in Anguilla who are interested in working on these projects, you are encouraged to visit MICU in order to register, stating your capabilities and the capacity of your organization. Please understand that none of these projects are earmarked for any specific contractor. We will try to do everything in an equitable manner.”
Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon. Mr. Cardigan Connor stated: “I am very pleased to see that a number of our repeat guests are coming back. They are not just coming in a show of support, but to enjoy their holidays. There is also a good number of ‘first-timers’, which indicate that the messages that we have put out claiming that Anguilla is open and ready for business have indeed been effective. I must give credit to all stakeholders in the tourism industry who are continuing to make all this possible.”
In the area of sports, Mr. Connor said: “Over the last week an announcement was made by the ICC, in collaboration with the West Indies Cricket Board, and English and Whales Cricket Board, that a match will be played at Lords on May 31st to raise funds for the rebuilding of the James Ronald Webster Park as well as Windsor Park in Dominica. Barbuda is also likely to benefit.
The night before the match, Anguilla Day — May 30th — there will be a special dinner in the Long Room at Lords, and Omari Banks is expected to be on the program to perform there, featuring a couple of His songs. His achievements make him the only Anguillian to date to have played test cricket and one-day international cricket with great distinction. Minister Rogers and I will be attending this event at Lords, and it is expected that the Anguilla Tourist Board will take full advantage of that occasion to showcase Anguilla, since the 20-20 match showing West Indies against the Rest of the World will be televised live on Sky Ports for four hours.”
The Hon. Evans McNeil Rogers spoke mainly on health. He stated: “We are now doing quite a bit of work on the old East End Clinic. We have installed two dental chairs there and we intend to be operating dental services there soon, in about eight to ten days.
“With some of the funds from the UK envelope of 60,000,000 pounds, we are looking to develop a polyclinic project in The Valley. Some preliminary drawings have already been done for that project. So we are anticipating those funds in order to realize that particular facility. We have already sourced some top-line dental chairs to be placed in that centre. We also intend to expand The Valley Health Centre that would feature the island’s main pharmacy.
“In the meantime, at the hospital the work continues. We have been held up for some time though, awaiting the shipment of flooring. Of course hospital flooring is a seamless type of material. It is not like tiles, and it has to be manufactured. We are also now awaiting the panels for the upgrade of the entire electrical supply.”
