A striking design of what the new ferry terminal at Blowing Point will look like, as displayed in The Anguillian newspaper, on Friday, November 13, 2020, was part of the radio programme “JUST THE FACTS” by Opposition Members, Evans Rogers and Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, on Monday, November 23.
Commenting on that matter, Mr Rogers said: “I am sure that readers of The Anguillian, including those who follow it online, would have seen a wonderful, or, as it said, a ‘striking design of the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal’ by Anguillian architect, Raoul Vanterpool. He has been involved quite a bit in the Anguilla Programme. I am not going to tout my own horn, but I am glad to have been associated with the wonderful work that Raoul has done, and will continue to do. I was the former Minister of Lands and had an intimate knowledge in respect of the lands for this particular project.
“I heard from the Minister that the area for that terminal building was reduced from 33,000 square-feet to 28,000 and now I believe it is 15,000 square-feet. The notion is that the lands acquired by the Government be given back to the owners. We mentioned it last week, directly from the Executive Council’s Minutes. I am by no means criticising this project whether constructively or otherwise.
“However, I have a real concern with respect to giving back the lands. I want to make it clear that when we look at this particular photo it is approaching Anguilla. It means that you don’t see the lands behind the building. I want to make it abundantly clear that the footprint of the terminal building has been reduced so that it can be accommodated on the land the Government now owns. We have to look at the building’s own traffic, other matters, and so forth. In terms of the land that has been registered in the Department of Lands and Surveys, it would be a grave mistake and foolhardy to think that, if we returned that area of land, the efficiency, effectiveness of the traffic, the movement of passengers and so on, can be done orderly and conveniently.
“It makes no sense to give back the land. I am specifically speaking about parcel 38. Parcels 26 and 36 are owned by the Government of Anguilla. Parcel 38 is one of the parcels that were acquired. For those of us who are acquainted with the Blowing Point area, parcel 38 would be bound to the road that goes down to Cul-de-Sac and then bound to what Government owns. That makes no sense at all.” He hoped that the return of the land was not political.
Mrs. Richardson-Hodge, Leader of the Opposition, observed: “This design plan dresses back the building, somewhat, which means that it is closer to the two strips of land that are being returned to the owners. How does that work in terms of parking, and how can the owners really develop those strips of land if they are just under the new building?”
She noted that, unlike other countries, the Anguilla Government owns a limited amount of land and there were very few options within which the Government could acquire land…, but once the acquisition was for a public purpose the needed land could be acquired but with compensation. She implied that the land already acquired should not be returned to the owners as there would be a public need for it at the ferry terminal.
Mr. Rogers mentioned about hearing a radio broadcast earlier that day, Monday, November 23, in which a number of presenters, associated with an investment development committee, said to have been set up by the present Government, spoke about the resurfacing and expansion of the airport, among other projects, in which it was involved.
“There are two distinct issues here,” Mr. Rogers continued. “There is the resurfacing of the present airstrip and its expansion. For me, the resurfacing of the present airstrip is absolutely critical. It is absolutely necessary and this discussion just didn’t start since the June elections.”
He was certain that there were some obvious signs of wear and tear at the airport runway which was expanded some sixteen years ago. He was also of the view that it was necessary to have the airport in an upgraded position, given the need for direct international flights to serve the island’s developing tourism industry.
Mrs. Richardson-Hodge had a similar view that the resurfacing of the airport was important. “When we were first elected there was an issue with respect to the shutdown of the airport and the losing of its certification,” she recalled. “A lot of work had to be done to ensure that the runway was up to scratch, was certified, and that the regulators were satisfied. Now, it is time for a certification to take place again – and that is why it is important for the upgrading of the runway to take place. If it is not upgraded, you would run the risk of losing whatever necessary international certifications there are – to allow flights to land in Anguilla.”
Mr. Rogers referred to a document, issued by the Anguilla Air and Sea Ports Authority (AASPA) Development Corporation Ltd. in November 2019. He explained that it sought expressions of interest from companies to undertake the surfacing and other development work at the Clayton J. Lloyd Airport. He said that the presenters, whom he mentioned earlier, as having to do with attracting companies and investors to Anguilla on behalf of the present Government, had spoken about the work they did in engaging companies for the airport and other projects.
“This [the airport work], isn’t anything new that came up since the last election, he asserted. “I just want to congratulate and give kudos to those persons whether they are on Anguillian economic team that was put together and so on. That [team], in itsel, is nothing new because any incoming Administration, getting the Government’s machinery up and going, should have what may be called a ‘think tank’ outside of Government to look into [development] areas. Whatever relationship may have taken place between the present Administration, and their team, is a matter for them. But it isn’t unusual to have a group, outside of Government, looking into these matters.”
Speaking further about the radio presentations by the group of persons, aligned to the Government, to look into project development, Mr. Rogers stated: “I listened, with a sense of satisfaction, to some of the presenters who mentioned the type of positive work that was done by the previous AASPA Board; and I want to single out Mr. Marcel Fahie for his leadership and the work he has done in terms of Chairman of AASPA and the Special Purpose Vehicle [for project development], including the planned surfacing and extension of the airport and the Blowing Point facilities which were documented and analysed.”
Mr. Rogers was joined by his Opposition colleague, Mrs. Richardson-Hodge, who said that, based on the information from the above-mentioned presenters, “they looked at what [work] was done before to determine whether there was any issues such as wrongdoing, etc. Based on what I understand, this new advisory committee has indicated that they didn’t find anything wrong in terms of the structure that was set up.”
Looking at the document, regarding expressions of interest, she said: “This is a document that went out, far and wide, to the public asking for companies interested in extending or upgrading the airport runway to at least 8,000 feet – and surfacing and strengthening the existing runway and other facilities such as the terminal facility. This is a very comprehensive document that was sent out, asking for the interest of companies that were willing to come into a public/private partnership with the Government, or with AASPA, to be able to develop these facilities.”
She pointed out that, “back to November 2019, at least, there was a recognition of, and work was underway, to find a means to upgrade the existing runway. The issues we are hearing now include that the money, [four million US dollars], has now been provided to upgrade the runway. We are very grateful for it. It is necessary, as I mentioned earlier, in terms of the possibility of losing certification; but we know that the upgrading of the existing runway is something that was already put in place by the previous administration. So here is another instance where the work is continuing from what was started before. It is not new. As I said, it is continuing work that was started under the Anguilla United Front Government.”
It has been officially announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure that the work on the airport will be done by the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) an arm of the Canadian Government. It is a public/private partnership involving the Anguilla Government, the UK Government and the CCC.
