British Overseas Minister, Lord Ahmad, is due to visit Anguilla on the 8th or 9th of November – and another senior official in the Foreign Office will be on island following his visit.
His Excellency the Governor Tim Foy made the announcement during an interview with Radio Anguilla’s Felicia Hennis this week. He reported:
“Lord Ahmad will first of all come to Anguilla to congratulate people – to see the impacts of (Hurricane) Irma itself and to really see the progress which is being made and to congratulate people for what they’ve done which is very important. And then, for the hard business bit, to begin to have the conversations with the Chief Minister ahead of the Joint Ministerial Council which will take place in London on the 28-29th November – and also in anticipation of the second meeting of the UK Inter-Ministerial Group on the response to the hurricane which takes place on the 18-19th November.”
The Governor underscored the importance of constant dialogue between the Government of Anguilla and, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He acknowledged that Anguilla has been significantly impacted by the hurricane and given the long term implications, the need for assistance from the UK should be over a period rather than a quick intervention.
The Governor said he wants to ensure that the relationship between the UK and the Anguilla Government is strengthened going forward:
“I’ll be working on the Foreign Office and the rest of the government to really raise their understanding of the fact that the UK has responsibilities here, and we want to build and we share with the government this very strong sense- and I think the Chief Minister sums it up well. What he wants, and I think the whole country wants is for Anguilla to be a successful Overseas Territory and not a dependent overseas territory; and I will be making that case hard in the UK that investment is one of the key requirements to achieve prosperity and security.”
The Governor went on: “For me it’s a big disappointment with the exception of Belmond. I don’t think there is really any significant UK investment in Anguilla. Obviously Cable and Wireless is in the past. In terms of the tourism industry, there is not a great UK presence which I think is a great shame – and so anything we can do to bring investment directly in from the UK into Anguilla would be meaningful. But just as important those UK companies which are represented in the Overseas Territories – certainly in the dependent Caribbean – to encourage them to invest in Anguilla would be good.”
Meanwhile he also announced that a contractual arrangement is being worked on for the procurement of workmen from Canada to join Anglec’s work team in the restoration of electricity on the island.
“At the moment, there is contractual discussions going ahead which I hope would be resolved today, Tuesday, or Wednesday which will see a Canadian company – one which is involved in the region – send in additional linesmen and equipment to work alongside Anglec,” Foy said.
The Governor commended ANGLEC’s CEO, David Gumbs, for communicating with the public on the restoration progress – and also the entire team at the company for working hard in getting electricity restored throughout the island.
He also thanked the various teams from the region for lending assistance to the island.
Governor Foy said getting electricity back is the singular most important thing that can happen for the country.
