In the weekly Opposition’s radio programme “Just the Facts” on Monday 17th April, 2023, Opposition Leader, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge and her colleague, Mr. Cardigan Connor both pushed back against the Ministers of Government’s accusation that it was the former administration’s lack of judgment that caused them to decide that the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS) would be located at its new site in The Quarter.
Moreover, several Government Ministers are pointing fingers at the opposition (the previous administration) for commencing construction of the school without having sufficient funds to complete the project, following catastrophic damages to the original school as a result of Hurricane Irma in 2017, when the Opposition Leader was then the Minister of Education.
The Opposition Leader, on the radio talk show, was at the time particularly referring to statements made the Minister of Education in the House of Assembly during its meeting on Friday 14th April, 2023. One of the Bills to be passed in the House that day was for a supplementary amount to complete the school so that it can be opened in September of this year.
During that House of Assembly meeting, the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, bewailed that it was a bad decision to locate the school in the Quarter.
“There was a decision made to move the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School from its original location after Hurricane Irma,” she said. “There were four options available. The four options would have cost different months and would have taken different time periods to complete. Two of the options involved the school remaining at its original location in The Valley. One of the options was to operate a dual site between the Valley location and the Quarter site. The last option was a unified site [in The Quarter].”
“The money available from the Anguilla Programme was EC$80 million. They [the previous administration] had EC$80 million. One of the options would have cost a maximum of EC$41 million. Another option was for EC$110 million,” she said. “A third option was for EC$120 million. And the final option for the unified campus carried a cost of EC$140 million. The option for EC$140 million was chosen, having access to only EC$80 million…So there was not enough money to complete the project.”
“While the decision taken was a bad decision,” she said, “we now have to make it good for the sake of the children of Anguilla. We have a responsibility to make it good for them…We are here to get the monies to finish the job – to make good a bad decision.”
Opposition Leader, Mrs. Richardson-Hodge, did respond in strong tones in the House on Friday 14th April to The Honourable Minister of Education’s blame.
However, she further addressed the issue on the radio programme “Just the Facts”.
“When the school project started, the funds were available to complete it. Sufficient funds were ‘in the pot’ to be able to complete the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School Phase 1. Of course, there were unexpected delays as is the norm in any construction project, but outside of that there were sufficient funds,” Mrs. Richardson Hodge said.
“Still, representations were made in the House by the current Minister of Education [Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers] and the single island-wide member, Minister Quincia Gumbs-Marie, where they came out and told the public that we approved the construction of the ALHCS Phase 1 without enough monies to complete it. How ridiculous that could be,” she said.
“First of all, the British would never have approved it if there were no funds to complete it. Secondly, at the time there was sufficient money to be able to put through the business case and to have it approved,” Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge said.
“However, what happened when they came into office in 2020, I can’t answer to that,” she said. “But I can tell you: that it was a responsible decision; that it was necessary to get our children into upgraded school conditions; and that I certainly do not regret taking it forward and ensuring that the Government of Anguilla had placed education in our high school as a priority.”
