The Honourable Minister of Education Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers says The Opposition has no moral grounds to talk about ANGLEC.
The fact that Opposition Leader, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, and her co-host, Opposition Member, Cardigan Connor, took on the issue of ANGLEC’s saga with the Government, raised a red flag for the Honorable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers.
During the midday opposition programme “Just the Facts”, on Monday 6th March, 2023, the Opposition Leader had, as it were, come out in support of ANGLEC.
“Even in the House of Assembly, there had been criticism of ANGLEC. When the Premier gave his opening address, at the opening of the new term, he made the statement that ANGLEC was picking a fight with Government because ANGLEC wanted to do renewable energy power generation their way, but Government had a better plan. He made it sound like ANGLEC was engaged in a battle with the Government of Anguilla,” the Opposition Leader said.
“We want to encourage the Government to come to the table and sit down with ANGLEC for any number of reasons. When we consider ANGLEC’s fees and increases in fuel surcharge that affect the cost of electricity, it is even more urgent for Government to sit down with ANGLEC and come to a resolution,” she continued.
It was to those statements that Minister Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers reacted during the Government’s Press Conference later the same day.
“The sale of ANGLEC was one of the pre-conditions that the Anguilla United Front [the Opposition] had agreed to in order for them to bridge a deficit gap,” she said, referring to plans the former administration had to raise revenues [prior to the 2020 elections]. “The sale of ANGLEC,” she said, “would have provided the Anguilla United Front with a one-time payment as revenues, but the next year they would have been in the same position.”
“It was proven that the Anguilla United Front said that they were about to sell ANGLEC. It was their definitive position. A prospectus was out and they were offering ANGLEC’s shares. Their position was to sell this asset. But this current administration took the position that ANGLEC is a national asset and, in realizing that, we decided that ANGLEC must not be sold,” the Honourable Minister indicated.
“Now, after making this decision, we are encountering a lot of challenges with ANGLEC, even though this administration has made it very clear that our ambitions are to go the way of 100% renewable energy. That is the unilateral position of this administration.
“So, no matter how one may look at it, I do not think that the Opposition has a moral ground to stand on when they talk about ANGLEC because they did not want to deal with the asset, period. They wanted to sell it. I think that we have to be very responsible, and I think that the people of Anguilla do deserve a full and proper explanation. The Ministers have always presented themselves and made themselves available for any questions relating to ANGLEC,” Ms. Kentish-Rogers explained.
She said that the hostile relationship that has developed between the Government and ANGLEC has done nothing else but to ‘trample the grass in between – that is the people of Anguilla’.
According to the Honourable Minister continuing hostility is not going to serve our people.
