The Ministry and Department of Infrastructure appear to be so busily supervising a line of other important projects in Anguilla that they have not announced the commissioning of their own new impressive office block and conference room.
Located at the roadside, in The Valley, at what used to be called the Public Works Department, the new building is part of the Anguilla Programme which also includes a storeroom at the northern end of the premises.
The recently-completed and commissioned structure looks like just another building until a visitor gets inside. On the ground floor there are a set of offices, and other accommodation spaces, for technical personnel and equipment. Up a flight of steps, it is another scene.
There is a long and wide corridor with offices on both sides – including one singled out for the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities and Housing, Mr. Haydn Hughes. The other offices are occupied by his close-knit staff, including his Permanent Secretary, Mr. Karim Hodge, Engineers and Secretaries.
The western section of the office block opens to an impressive-looking and expansive conference room, adorned with eye-catching Anguilla tourism marketing standing signs.
A larger one of these signs present a colourful backdrop to the Minister’s office. Speaking to The Anguillian newspaper, in this setting behind him, Mr. Hughes said on Monday, July 19: “I have to give all the credit for this building to the Ministry of Infrastructure, in particular Karim Hodge, the Permanent Secretary, whom I consider the MVP; Bancroft Battick; Shaynis Connor; and the whole team over here that did this entire facility – as well as Christine Irish-Webster and Erlin Fiona Richardson who did the final touches. We are in a comfortable position, and we have a nice conference room where we not only hold press conferences, but have our meetings.
“As a matter of fact, before I announced the development of the Carter Rey Boulevard, I held a meeting there with all the stakeholders – including Digicel, Flow, Anglec, Water Authority and DITES (the Department of information Technology and e-Services) – to make sure that we are all on the same page as we move forward and getting closer to the Carter Rey Boulevard project. If you were to drive across to that area, you will see Anglec moving back the utility poles to get them out of the way of the road development, which is scheduled to commence very shortly. As you can tell, I am very excited because this is forty years in the making – and it took a lot of effort and work. From the first day I came to office I told my staff I wanted the Airport developed; The Valley Main Road developed; and the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal started. I did not expect it to be done so quickly, but here we are. We put in the preparatory work in the first six months and now we are reaping the results of that hard work. As we enter the second year, I am very excited about the possibilities for that period.”
Minister Hughes continued: “We have been able to acquire funds for the Airport Master Plan Aviation Study and Business Case. Once that is completed, by March 2022, the discussions with Her Majesty’s Government will begin. This is in terms of the airport runway expansion to be able to accommodate trans-Atlantic commercial flights out of the main gateways – such as Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle, JFK and other international airports. That is the direction in which we want to go. Hopefully, before the end of this term, we will see the realisation of that dream.”
Minister Hughes further said: “I always felt that my father’s goal was to see the airport developed, and my goal was to see the Carter Rey Boulevard/The Valley Main Road developed. I also wanted to follow the legacy of James Ronald Webster, Emile Gumbs and Hubert Hughes who wanted to see Anguilla’s airport developed to a place where we can attract any international airline. That’s why I wanted this Ministry – and the Honourable Premier granted it to me without hesitation. I am very grateful to him for having the faith and trust in me.”
Mr. Hughes spoke at length about his perseverance to get the preparatory work done on a number of projects despite a lack of funding. “Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam was able to facilitate a virtual tour of The Valley Main Road and the Airport,” he recalled. “Out of that virtual tour, we were able to secure funding under the new Economic Resilience Fund – and here we are, July 2021, and we are out to start the Carter Rey Boulevard.”
