You may have heard
the Premier’s answer to Mr Carlton Pickering Sr’s question at the last Government
Press Conference. He asked whether in
this time of limited resources, government needed to rent so much private
office space around The Valley. He
asked, would it not be a better use of public funds to limit occupation to
government-owned premises. I was struck
by the Premier’s response. He replied,
in essence, that while he agreed with the sentiment, government could not give
up the rentals at this time. Government
must keep a balance between the public good and private needs.
It
would be wrong, he said, to bring those rental leases to an end when the
private owners may have mortgages to repay.
Enough Anguillians have lost their properties to the banks when they
were unable to pay their loan instalments.
Some of them, he suggested, need the rental money to put food on the
table. Government, he said, must
consider these private needs alongside government’s duty to protect public monies. But I question this stance. Is it ever right to show such generosity to
certain selected individuals when scarce public money is being spent?
Setting
aside for a moment the important question of the ethics, even legality, of
using public funds to benefit private individuals, let us look at the merits of
the explanation he offered in relation to the specific rentals.
We
start in the grounds of the government secretariat with the Hubert Hughes
building. Mr Hughes was a prominent
Anguillian, for some forty years a Member of the House of Assembly, and a past
Chief Minister. The ground floor of his
building is rented for the use of the Department of Social Development. The floor above is rented for the Probation
Department. I suppose that it is
possible, though unlikely, that the late Mr Hughes had a mortgage that is still
unpaid. But I would hardly call him a
man who was short of resources. His
children are all grown up adults now, prominent in politics and business. I am sure that they are all capable of
maintaining themselves. Besides, the
building is right adjacent to the government Secretariat, a much sought-after
location. Mr Hughes’ building could
probably be rented to private businesses for more than government is paying. It would, in effect, be doing the family a
favour to give notice and move to available government-owned spaces.
Then,
there is the Wallblake House that the Catholic Church leased to the Ministry
of Tourism some years ago. Are we
still paying the rent, and keeping up the insurance and maintenance of the
building and grounds? It must be an
expensive exercise, especially when you consider that we do not use the
building but have essentially abandoned it.
For
many years, the Attorney-General’s Chambers have occupied extensive
rental space in Mr Clement Ruan’s Caribbean Commercial Center. Can they not be fitted into the old National
Bank of Anguilla (NBA) building presently partially occupied by the Premier’s
office and the Inland Revenue Department?
The Premier might appreciate having his lawyers’ offices close at
hand. The proximity would make advice on
tricky situations easier to obtain. Of
course, the NBA building is not owned by government, so far as I know. But I believe I heard they stopped paying
rent on it to NBA’s Receiver. Are they
occupying it rent-free on some private arrangement that has not yet emerged
from the fog of NBA’s liquidation?
Mr
Clement Ruan also rents office space to the Ministry of Social Development. Mr Ruan is one of the biggest businessmen in
Anguillian commercial life. I don’t
think he has any need for government largess or generosity in renting office
space from him. I doubt he has a
mortgage, and he is unlikely to have small children needing food on the
table. I can’t imagine he was pleased,
if he heard the Premier, at being placed in the ranks of the needy in Anguilla.
The
late Mr Roy Rogers was a past Speaker of the House of Assembly. He was a prominent politician and a
distinguished member of one of the elite business families of Anguilla. He moved in the highest political and
business circles. I find it hard to
believe that his family needs the rental money from WISE for his
building next to the Princess Alexandra Hospital. I can’t imagine they have any mortgage
problem or difficulty putting food on the table. Besides, now that the Secondary School is
moving to its new premises in the Farrington, the old Comprehensive School
classrooms in The Valley would be an ideal substitute for the Rogers building. Is there any reason why the Department of
Education could not find space in the old school building for WISE to occupy?
And
does the Air and Sea Ports Authority have to continue to rent space from
Mr Quincy Gumbs at the Fairplay Complex building? Mr Gumbs is a well-known businessman and
political consultant around town. He has
been a close adviser to one government after the other over the past forty
years. The office space in question is
in a desirable location. Would he not
fill it immediately the Authority gave notice they were vacating? We all expect that ASPA will give notice as
soon as their new building at the port is completed.
The
late Mr Albert Lake OBE was reputedly the richest man in Anguilla when he died
some years ago. The upper floors of his
building on the other side of the road from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive
School have for years been rented by the Education Department. Now that the school is moving to its new
building in the Farrington, it does not seem likely they will continue to
require this space in The Valley. No one
can realistically suggest that Mr Lake’s family needs the government rental of
this property to put food on the table.
When
the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal and Police Station were destroyed by
Hurricane Irma in 2017, government had to find temporary accommodation close to
the port. The heirs of the late “Big
Jim” Romney came to the rescue with their building that the terminal presently
occupies. But now that construction of
the new Ferry Terminal building is rapidly progressing, we would hope that
government plans to move all their activities into the new building and give up
the Romney building.
The
idea that the Harrigan family needs the government rental money paid for the
use by the Department of Youth and Culture of part of their Cannonball
building is laughable. They are one of
the wealthiest of the elite families of Anguilla. Members have long been prominent in politics
and local business. If Youth and Culture
were relocated to some government office space, no one could believe that the
family would be put to any hardship.
The
Anguilla Development Board (ADB) has long rented other space in the
Cannonball building. This Board is part
of the Ministry of Finance, and could easily, I imagine, be squeezed into the
NBA building. Besides, a few years ago
the ADB had plans to build new office space on the open field to the south of the
NBA carpark. This is government land
that has been designated for use by the ADB.
The new ADB building should be designed to be big enough, at little
extra cost, to house other government offices.
The
Babrow building behind the library has been occupied by the Environmental
Health Department since Hurricane Irma.
I am sure that the family welcomed the business at the time, but there
is a vast, new Public Health building that has just gone up next door. I find it difficult to imagine that there is
no plan to give notice to the Babrows and for Public Health to move to their
own new building.
The
Social Security Board is one of our wealthiest corporate citizens, banking
millions of dollars, we are told. Does
the Department of Disaster Management really need to keep the Board in
funds by paying rent to it? And why does
the Anguilla Civil Servants’ Pension office have to rent space in the
same building? It can’t be a very big
office, probably no more than one or two staffers. Both these Departments should rank no more
than a desk each in the spacious new offices of the Department of Inland
Revenue.
I wonder if the Premier might reconsider the explanation that
he gave Mr Pickering. Is it ever right
to spend public resources to benefit private interests even if they have a
mortgage to pay? After all, whose side
is government on, the masses or the elite?
If this matter were brought to the attention of the Chief Auditor, what
would be his response, I wonder? Might he question whether some of these rentals smack of cronyism?
