Passers-by along the main road down from the airport lawn, across to the vicinity of NCBA, have been fascinated by the straight-line deep excavation work, and the laying of a large quantity of 3-4-inch pipes, there.
It is a three-partite undertaking by the Anguilla Electricity Company (ANGLEC), DIGICEL and the Department of Information Technology and E-Government Services (DITES). The object of the three-year project is to guard against hurricanes and the possible disruption of electricity and communication services along that central and branch feeder route, eventually leading to the Princess Alexandra Hospital at Pope Hill. (The work complements that done by FLOW Anguilla which previously undertook similar underground activity elsewhere on the island.)
The trenching for the first phase, from the Corito power station to the NAPA area at the corner of the airport lawn, was paid for by ANGLEC to Greig’s Trucking. ANGLEC is now sharing the cost with DIGICEL and DITES for the phase two work – from outside the airport lawn to the Anguilla Drugstore/NCBA area where the trenching is being done by Daddy’s Construction and Sonny Ruan.
“We want to go to the hospital and have ten weeks – until the 23rd of March, the deadline – to finish this second phase,” ANGLEC’s Project Officer, Mrs. Mariscia Roach-Grant, said. “Daddy [Frederick Harrigan] is working quite fast and wants to finish quickly.
“We hope to get started by Easter, or after then, on the next phase [3] as soon as possible – so that, by August, in the Hurricane Season, we should reach the hospital, and for that phase we have a million EC dollars… That is another 3,700 feet to be done. The current work from NAPA down the airport lawn, the roundabout, and across to the NCBA/Drugstore area, accounts for 2,856 feet – totaling 6,556 feet.”
The contract for the third phase, to the hospital, is yet to be awarded. A million dollars have been budgeted for each phase of the work but, when all is considered, including the provision and installation of pipes, high voltage cables and communication lines etc, the actual overall cost of the three-year project is expected to run into millions of dollars. It is planned to include other parts of The Valley area, and beyond, in the underground system later on.
Meanwhile, in terms of the western area of Anguilla, the tourism belt, ANGLEC’s Operations Manager, Mr. Steve Hodge, said: “The hotels are undoubtedly the bread basket of the island. The challenge is that they are miles away from the power station – and you would have heard how costly it is for the underground work. That is why, strategically, ANGLEC decided to target the central Valley area which is adjacent to the power station. Two years ago, DIGICEL approached us and they had a similar plan to go to the west. They were taking a lead with that initiative and ANGLEC was more than happy to join with them.
“Unfortunately, that project fell away for reasons I cannot say…So ANGLEC came back to our original strategy which we are continuing to do bit by bit – targeting the central area. However, it remains part of our priority to be able to get to the west. Once we complete this project in the central area, and as finance affords, you can very much expect to see us trying to get to the west sometime in the future.”
Apart from the high voltage cables, which ANGLEC is currently laying underground in the central area of Anguilla, the point has been made that a low voltage underground service is available to householders.
The information about the underground work was gleaned at a press conference held by ANGLEC on Tuesday, February 18. In addition to Mrs. Roach-Grant and Mr. Steve Hodge, other persons who spoke to the media were: ANGLEC’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Jemila Morson-Hodge; and Mr. Demian Harrigan of DITES.
