There is a perception in the public and private sectors that matters are settling down in Anguilla now that the island’s 2018 budget has been approved by the United Kingdom Government, and the 60 million pounds in humanitarian aid, a consequence of Hurricane Irma, has been released.
The real work involving the budget now begins to roll out over the course of the year, matching expenditure with revenue and getting the first six recovery projects financed and under reconstruction – using a portion of the humanitarian aid. It may not be all that easy, but at least the ball is rolling in a positive direction.
The Appropriation Act, 2018, embodying the budget, was signed by Governor Tim Foy, OBE, on behalf of the UK Government. “I think it is great to sign off the budget and for me there are two parts which are important,” he told The Anguillian in an interview several days ago. “First of all, there has been a good and frank exchange between the British Government and the Government of Anguilla; and there is a way forward in terms of the Chief Minister’s agreement to the five points which Lord Ahmad wrote in his letter. We have a way forward which recognises the importance of the issues which are of concern to the UK, and the UK has reflected on the points which the Chief Minister made to them in his previous correspondence. That is really important and there is a good dialogue going.
“Secondly, on a practical point of view, it is good that we have a budget agreed. That will allow departments to do their planning for the remainder of the year. It will allow them to think about recruitment and a lot of other important things that make a public service work. It is not good not to have a budget so, from a very narrow bureaucratic perspective, it is a very, very important end that was signed. I am very pleased to have played a very minor part in signing my name three times. I am very pleased that we managed to reach that position.”
Replying to a question from The Anguillian, Governor Foy replied: “What the UK Government agreed to in terms of the 60 million pounds, in the letter from Lord Ahmad to the Chief Minister, is to give approval to go ahead with the six top priority projects which were identified by the Anguilla Government working closely with officials in my office. That includes the further work on the hospital; the work on the primary schools in particular; and some important work around communications infrastructure. In addition to that was the 7 million pounds spent before now which included a significant amount of work to ensure that the airport could be re-certified.
“About the airport expansion, I understand that the Chief Minister is very keen on looking at a public/private partnership. In terms of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, there is a requirement for the UK Government to approve such a public/private partnership, and the UK looks forward to receiving any proposal which the Chief Minister may wish to bring forward. The UK will make a decision as to whether it represents prudence and sound sense for the Government of Anguilla. The UK Government will not withhold that for any reason other than sound prudential management.”
Asked about the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal, which is not one of the six projects, the Governor stated: “First of all, I want to really commend the public service staff in Immigration and Customs and Police Officers. They have brought back a service very swiftly which is a little bit crammed down there – let’s be honest – but it is working very well. That’s not to say, by any means, it is good enough because we are a high-end tourist destination. I just want to put on record that I am very grateful for the flexibility which the people have shown by working so hard to make that work.
“The re-development of the terminal is one of the projects within the 60 million pounds and I hope that work on that will begin very shortly. I think the important thing is that there is consultation about that facility because it will be here for a long time and we need to make sure that it is fit for purpose. I know that people have been talking about that. It is within the remit of the broad gambit of projects the UK Government has agreed to.”
The Governor spoke about the Consultative Group which is to look at “Anguilla’s fiscal and economic recovery” and which Lord Ahmad mentioned in his letter to Chief Minister Banks. The Group comprises the Government of Anguilla, the UK Government the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank.
“The Chief Minister and myself recognise that this is a good idea,” the Governor commented. “It [the group] recognises that the UK Government is one party alongside the Government of Anguilla in terms of mapping out Anguilla’s economic and fiscal requirements. But there are other parties which play a very significant role and, two in particular, are the Caribbean Development Bank and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank – key players for Anguilla. They are major partners for Anguilla in the Eastern Caribbean region. The direct instruction I have had from the UK is very much that the UK wants to work with the Government of Anguilla and those two organisations to really discuss the future for Anguilla and to be long term partners for Anguilla as it maps out its future trajectory. I think it is a real opportunity for all the thinking heads to work together and understand the best route to overcome the challenges which we have, and to make full use of the opportunities which Anguilla has. This means that the fiscal policies, lending policies and all the rest, can be aligned so we will have everybody, who has a part to play, working together towards the same common shared agenda.”
Asked whether the agreement had the effect of staving off confrontation, Governor Foy replied: “I commend Lord Ahmad and the Chief Minister Banks for the way in which they handled this agreement. It has been frank, polite and a good exchange. That is a good thing. I wouldn’t describe it as been confrontational in that sense. I think what the Consultative Group gives us is an opportunity to be thinking beyond an annual process, setting budgets and targets for two, three, four, five years – so that we are looking at what is needed in the medium to longer term rather than to have a difficult process every year. I think the Consultative Group is very important in terms of helping us to look beyond the short term towards the medium term. I am very optimistic about it. I think it is a good opportunity for us.”
Returning to the 60 million pounds, the Governor told The Anguillian: “What Lord Ahmad concludes in his letter is that the funding for the first six projects will be released. What he is hoping for and expecting (I know that the Chief Minister has indicated in his letter his agreement in principle to Lord Ahmad’s request) is that once the Medium Term Plan is in in place at the end of June this year, the funding for the rest of the projects will be made available.”
Asked how the humanitarian aid will be released, Governor Foy explained: “The UK Government has agreed with the Government of Anguilla that a Board be established…The dedicated Programme Officer (Head of the Anguilla Programme Board), Darren Forbes-Batey, will sit with Permanent Secretaries from each relevant department and representatives from the Ministry of Finance and they have identified the priority projects.
“The priority list of projects has already been signed off with the Executive Council and the British Government agreeing to them. What now needs to happen is that we turn that into practical work. For each of those projects on the list, individual project documents, which lay out the design and cost, will be turned into Memoranda of Understanding between the UK Government and the Government of Anguilla and signed off by a Senior Civil Servant from the Foreign Office and the requisite Minister here in Anguilla. The project then goes for tender through the Government of Anguilla’s tender procedures and contracts are awarded. Essentially the UK Government will reimburse the Government of Anguilla with the costs associated with that spending.
“Darren’s primary responsibility is to represent the FCO in terms of the partnership we have with the Government of Anguilla to ensure that the documentation is dealt with as swiftly as possible. Neither party wants us to be held up by the UK Government saying this document is not quite what we are looking for or we require a little bit more. Darren is working very closely with MICUH (the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Utilities and Housing), and colleagues in each of the individual departments, to ensure that the documentation which has been prepared passes the requirements of the UK; and likewise, on the other side, that people here are happy that the requirements of Anguilla are met.”
Mr. Darren Forbes-Batey, who later joined the interview between Governor Foy and Nat Hodge of The Anguillian, spoke mainly about the high priority list of projects for which permission to go ahead was granted by the UK Government. . They comprise The Adrian T. Hazell Primary School and The Valley Primary School, where some of the hurricane-damaged buildings were demolished and will be replaced with new buildings; the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Princess Alexandra Hospital; repairs to the roofs of Government buildings and hurricane shelters; the extension of the Government-owned telecommunications tower at Crocus Hill; and repairs to the Police Headquarters and the Marine Police building at Sandy Ground.
There is a larger list of projects to be tackled later on. These include the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal which was severely damaged by the hurricane and had to be demolished.
The Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School is also another project for later. The reason the Anguilla Porgramme Board put the that school on the larger list is that more thinking needs to be done about that project, according to Mr. Forbes-Batey, as other issues such as land have come up. “We are discussing with colleagues in London whether we can be allowed to purchase land under the project,” he added. “A formal decision hasn’t been made whether we can or cannot purchase land.”
The severely-damaged and compromised Morris Vanterpool School, at East End, now housed in rented accommodation there, is to be rebuilt later as part of the larger list of projects.
With the 2018 budget now passed and in operation, and the humanitarian aid released for the first six high priority projects, there is a feeling of much promise for Anguilla despite the long and agonising delay which had faced the people of the island.
