Minister Quincia Gumbs-Marie and Minister Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers
During the weekly Government Press Conference on Monday, March 6th, the question was raised as to whether the Government intends to meet with ANGLEC to discuss the way forward on renewable energy electricity for Anguilla.
ANGLEC’s Board had indicated that Government was hesitant to facilitate a meeting. The Chairman, Mr. David Carty, claimed in the ANGLEC Press Conference on Wednesday 1st March, 2023, that, “Upon my election as Chairman of the Board, I have reached out to the Premier asking him for an audience, but I have not been given that privilege. I have also written to the Ministry, in care of the Permanent Secretary, requesting a sit-down session, but that has not happened.”
Government and ANGLEC have been in a stalemate over the past several months due to several factors, including the fact that in its quest to supply renewable energy power, ANGLEC chose that its source of funding will be through a loan arrangement with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Government, on the other hand, has decided that going the route of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) would be more effective, and would avoid ANGLEC the burden of a loan.
Both parties, ANGLEC and Government, are holding on to the view that their option is the better of the two alternatives.
Coupled with all the above, for several months, Government, as the majority shareholder, has asked ANGLEC that it (Government) be furnished with the financial statements of the company. These statements have never been provided, as ANGLEC is of the view, that, because as a privately owned company, it is not obligated to turn over such information to Government.
Consequently, at Monday’s Government Press Conference, ANGLEC was labeled by Government as being “hostile”.
“It goes without saying that the Board of Directors of ANGLEC is hostile to the Government of Anguilla – not necessarily the Chairman, but the Board in general. They are certain members of the Board, along with the CEO, who go to radio and are very hostile to the Government of Anguilla,” the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure and Utilities, Haydn Hughes said.
“Then, there is the host and owner of that radio station, who do not come to any of our Government press conferences to ask any questions, but who continue to perpetuate the silliness that these ANGLEC Board members come up with on the radio waves,” he said.
“If they want to meet with Government to have a discussion,” he went on, “we are willing to meet with them. However, we must recall that when the CEO of ANGLEC initially said that they wanted to embark on a renewable energy component to ANGLEC, and that they were going to the CDB to borrow money, we told him, fine. But we alerted him that we must have a discussion on it because Government will have to guarantee the loan and Government would have to give ANGLEC its blessings.”
“The CEO disputed that. He went on radio and said that there is no need for ANGLEC to obtain ‘blessings’ from Government. Now, recently, they are saying that they want to move forward with the CDB loan plan, but they want Government’s blessings. But from the inception, we told them that,” the Minister said.
“So, instead of being adversarial, ANGLEC could have progressed with this long ago if it had only listened. But there is a sense of arrogance and adversary on ANGLEC’s part, and it would appear as if they are not really keen on moving forward. They seem to be using ANGLEC as a political football,” the Minister opined.
