Michelle Pradel and Darren Forbes-Batey
Anguilla is having its busiest period of spending and construction work, in recent times, and the people behind it are the Anguilla Programme Team/the Governor’s Office Team working on the island’s recovery projects following Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The team is headed by Governor Tim Foy, OBE, Senior Responsible Officer for the Anguilla Programme, along with Mr. Darren Forbes-Batey, MBE, Manager of the Programme. The other team members are: Michelle Pradel, Finance Manager; Sierra Richardson, Accountant; Kefentsi Davis, Project Manager, Liaison – Finance and Document Management; and Charlene Hodge, Project Manager, Infrastructure, Government of Anguilla. Mr. Ben Merrick, the Director of the Overseas Territories, has oversight of the Anguilla Programme – the largest country programme across the territories. It was in this capacity that he undertook extensive visits to the sites of the Anguilla Programme projects with the Chief Minister, Ministers of
Government and other Government officials last week.
The Anguillian newspaper spoke to Mr. Forbes-Batey, and other members of the team several days ago, about where the Anguilla Programme is in terms of implementation and accomplishment so far.
“We just had a very busy year. We spent roughly 10 million pounds over the course of last year,” he revealed. “We had a bit of a slow start, because we had to stop and focus on preparations for last year’s hurricane season so the programme started in earnest about September. We moved forward on a number of projects. These include the temporary terminal at Blowing Point; the Combined Services Building at the Airport; the importation of the fire trucks and other fire service equipment; and we got all the paper work, designs and structures ready to go.”
He went on: “We are now working on 17 different projects. They include five primary schools, the secondary school [Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School], the Princess Alexandra Hospital and three clinics. We are also working on a health protection storage building and, outside of that, the Government’s infrastructure: Radio Anguilla, the roof of the Royal Anguilla Police Force Headquarters and the prison’s fence. We will be working on the House of Assembly as well as doing some work at the Post Office. We are also working on revenue strengthening with the Inland Revenue Department and with Lands and Planning. That project has moved very fast… A lot has happened and there is still a lot to do.”
Mr. Forbes-Batey stressed that, in looking forward to 2019/20, the Anguilla Programme must ensure collectively that every cent/penny is spent wisely and properly. He stated that the Anguilla Programme Board, comprising the Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments, was charged with making important decisions on project prioritization – refining the list of funded projects – and phasing others to keep the programme budget on target.
Speaking from a prepared statement, the Anguilla Programme Manager continued:
“As public servants, and working with our private sector partners engaged in the programme, we have to wisely and prudently spend 32 million pounds (that’s US$42.7 million) between now and 31 March 2020 – on some major projects. They cover education, health, critical national infrastructure such as the Blowing Point Terminal (which will also be home to the new Anguilla Search and Rescue Facility – housing a new fit-for-purpose search and rescue boat that will hopefully be funded via the Anguilla Programme); the House of Assembly before the next elections; Post Office; five primary schools and the development of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School as well as major renovations at the Princess Alexandra Hospital; the total rebuild of the new Valley Health Complex and western (South Hill) Polyclinic and upgrades to the Welches Polyclinic.
“March 2020 will be soon here – so the Governor’s Office Team, and our Government of Anguilla partners, are now busy finalising designs and structural drawings and procurement planning. We are working to ensure that material supplies to all the construction projects offer the best value for money – and the supply chain is robust and constant. Project management is going to be key, if we are to be successful. But we are not starting from scratch. We have learnt from last year, and will apply that learning and continue to deliver the Anguilla Programme together for the people of Anguilla.”
Meanwhile, he disclosed that, apart from the 60 million pounds for the 2019/20 projects, via the Global Britain Fund (GBF), Anguilla was given an additional 1.4 million pounds (the equivalent of 1.82 million US dollars), by the UK Government. This was to prepare the island’s infrastructure and the Disaster Management Department for the 2018 hurricane season.
He stated that during this time Project Managers in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities and Housing (MICUH), and the Team in the Governor’s Office, were getting to grips with a new governance, procurement and payment system. The related paperwork required …each supplier to be registered on the system. Over 171 companies have been registered since September 2018 – mostly local businesses.
In his written statement provided to The Anguillian newspaper, Mr. Forbes–Batey added: “We also secured and spent an additional one million pounds (US$1.3 million) funding, this year, on the Government of Anguilla revenue strengthening projects managed by the Inland Revenue and Lands and Surveys Departments respectively.
“The UK Government also agreed a further 6.5 million pounds next year (2019/20) for the re-start of the Road Bay Port Development Project. The work is in cooperation with the consultants DLN (based in Barbados), the Anguilla Air and Sea Ports Authority and MICUH to deliver the much-needed new port facilities at Anguilla’s one and only goods/freight port.”
The interview with Mr. Forbes–Batey and his team, concluded with The Anguillian newspaper being told, as mentioned earlier: “In the last UK financial year the total GBF/Anguilla Programme spend came to just under 10 million pounds (US$13 million) on many projects, large and small, across the Government of Anguilla estate, including hurricane resilience/disaster management preparations, work on public shelters, etc.”
With the many other projects being funded under the 60 million pounds Anguilla Programme, over the period 2019/20, the team at the Governor’s Office will continue to be exceptionally busy, excited and committed to its financial responsibilities, obligations and oversight.
