The impasse between ANGLEC and the Government of Anguilla continues to be a hot button topic. ANGLEC’s CEO, Mr. Sutcliffe Hodge, gave an update on the stalemate position last Wednesday morning with DJ Hammer of Klass FM.
Mr. Hodge lamented the high amounts that ANGLEC spends annually on the cost of diesel fuel, over 93 million, and notes that the company is bleeding, for it finds itself unable to sustain this burden on an ongoing basis.
He noted how the government of Germany, the UK and Tortola had reached out to their utility companies and made determinative efforts to ease the burdens on their citizens by subsidising their utility bills.
However, he noted the contrast in Anguilla where the Government refuses to make meaningful efforts to ease ANGLEC’s burden. Rather, as he puts it, “ANGLEC is getting pressure, opposition and resistance from Government.”
Mr. Hodge said: “Upon taking up my appointment at ANGLEC and seeing the financial crisis that the company was in, I reached out to the Government and told them that what I would like to see is for their outstanding debt to be paid because ANGLEC is bleeding due to the high price of fuel. There is no efficiency that you can perform within the organisation to prevent this bleeding. The bleed is directly related to the price of diesel.
“Government has been continuing to push back with regard to not paying its debt, and has threatened me, warning that I dare not disrupt the electricity supply to the Water Cooperation which is the biggest debtor.”
“The back and forth continues,” he said. “We have a situation where the Government needs to refund ANGLEC some $28 million for custom duties that were paid by ANGLEC, but which should have never been paid. Generally, the Government has provided no relief to ANGLEC to cope with the increase in the fuel cost.”
He admits that he is rather “green” in his job as the CEO, and one would think that he should be getting support from the Government of Anguilla as well as from the Governor, but there is much hostility when it comes to the Government meeting its obligations and addressing its own debt.
“What Government should be doing is coming up with ways for subsidising ANGLEC,” he remarked. “This has nothing to do with whether the Government is a shareholder in ANGLEC. This has to do with Government’s obligation and its social responsibility to the people of Anguilla.”
He noted that since ANGLEC is under the microscope of the Government and the Governor, ANGLEC may just have to end up increasing the fuel surcharge again. He claimed that the Government cannot prevent ANGLEC from taking this decision, for it is a formula that is built into the regulations with respect to ANGLEC’s rights.
