As the redevelopment of the Carter Rey Boulevard, also known as The Valley Main Road progresses, the Minister of Infrastructure behind the project, Mr. Haydn Hughes, has spoken about some further road construction work in the near future.
He was at the time speaking in the Anguilla House of Assembly on Tuesday, September 14, during the debate on the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2021. The legislation, which was passed, makes provision for the reallocation of various sums of money from the main Budget, passed in January, to finance a number of services across the Ministries and Departments of Government.
That budget accounted for twenty-nine million, five hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and seven dollars (EC$29,583,207). The reallocations, under the just-passed Supplementary Appropriation Act, came from those 2021 budgetary funds that were not fully utilised or otherwise saved during the course of the year. That process of transfer of money means that there was no need for the Government to find additional funds for the Tuesday, September 13, Supplementary Budget.
Haydn Hughes
In speaking about the Supplementary Budget, Minister Hughes told the House that the Carter Rey Boulevard was part of the road redevelopment project to significantly enhance what he described as The Valley Town Centre. He said that the current road under reconstruction, from the Airport Roundabout at George Hill, to the Roundabout at the James Ronald Webster Park, involved a partnership between the Government of Anguilla and the utility companies to install cables underground to replace the old system of overhead wires. He also stated that efforts would be made to extend this provision to the nearby George Hill road where poles and cables, in the path of aircraft, would be removed.
“There is a lot of work and a grand plan for infrastructure in Anguilla,” Mr. Hughes continued. “Madam Speaker, as part of the Carter Rey Boulevard development, the road that leads down towards the Merchants’ Market will be surfaced – and that work will start very soon, and will hopefully be completed before the end of this year. We will have a roundabout between the Parliamentary Drive…and that seeks to facilitate it – so that there will be a better flow of traffic in The Valley area.
“Madam Speaker, the road that leads across from the George Hill Tire Centre …all the way to the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway – will also be developed. That in itself is a critical piece of infrastructure. There are a lot of people living on that powdery dirt road – and that is Crown property – and that is why we decided which roads will be done…Over the years, we have had issues where Government went at great expense to develop roads only to get letters from lawyers and family members, as well as the blocking of roads because those roads traversed people’s property. In order to move forward with our road capital programme, we are looking to develop roads that do not have any encumbrances.
“That road will be a great road, and I know a lot of people live on that road. A learning centre [Branches of Learning] is on that road and a lot of people, including children, traverse that road. I am very happy, Madam Speaker, to be part of an Administration that is forward thinking and will ensure that these roads are done.”
The Minister added that the Government, through his Ministry, had decided to redevelop two other roads which he did not name.
