In the Anguilla House of Assembly on Tuesday, July 10, the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Palmavon Webster, asked Chief Minister Banks to reply to a number of questions.
She asked:
• Whereas the UK Government has guaranteed payments totalling 60 million pounds sterling over a three-year period, can the Minister inform this Honourable House:
• What amounts have been received so far;
• How have those amounts been disbursed (if not yet disbursed) allocated;
• What further receipts are imminently expected; and
• When will the High School and House of Assembly reconstruction begin?
Chief Minister Banks replied: “Mr. Speaker, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has so far approved some 10 million pounds sterling for projects. This represents at least six projects thus far. However, this amount, based on the new arrangements, is managed by the Governor’s Office. As a result, payments are made directly to contractors on presentation of invoices.
“It is my understanding that the first tranche of such payments were received today (Tuesday, July 10). But since the accounting is done for the Anguilla programme, managed by the Governor’s Office, this information will have to be requested from that source. I would be happy to provide such information to the Honourable Member when it is available. We continue to work closely with the Governor’s Office in trying to ensure that the process is efficient as it can be.
“The remainder of the funding has now been freed up based on a correspondence which I received from the Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Ahmad, which I will now read to this Honourable House for your information as well as for other members of the House and the listening public, in the context of your question.” (That letter is published next to this article).
The Chief Minister went on: “Finally, Mr. Speaker, with regard to the questions raised on the two specific projects, mentioned, the Honourable Minister of Education, the Member for Sandy Hill, will respond to [the building of the Comprehensive School]. Let me concur with her. Our closest estimate is that construction will begin on the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School in January 2019.
“It is expected that the House of Assembly repairs, for the most part, will be completed by August 31, 2018.”
