The two-day debate for the 2026 Budget took place on Tuesday, November 18th, and Wednesday November 19th, and the Parliamentary Opposition Members spared no punches in criticizing it as being almost a copy of the budget for 2025 which they, the Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) administration, had devised last year.
Former Premier, Representative of Island Harbour, and Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster, commended the civil servants for their hard work in preparing the Budget, and at the same time he complimented the current administration of the Anguilla United Front (AUF) for adopting the APM’s policies.
The District 6 Representative, Opposition Member Haydn Hughes, protested that he will not be a hypocrite, and he opposed the budget that consists of the APM’s 2025 plans. Opposition Member, and Representative for District 5 Merrick Richardson, also stated that the budget is a 90% reflection of the APM’s.
“It took ten months to reassess and realign the projects which we had put forward in last year’s budget,” Richardson observed. “It took all this time to realize that everything that the APM was doing for the last four years was good. When you look at this budget address, it is an APM budget,” he contended.
“There are a few things in this budget that is different,” he continued, “but for the most part everything else is APM. Everything that was frowned upon when we devised our 2025 budget, and everything that was bashed on the radio, after reassigning and realigning, the AUF now realizes that all these things were good,” Richardson stated.
He further argued that the majority of government revenue generators were on a decline, except for the .AI. He also accused the Government of leaving all the Opposition constituents undone, namely Road North, Road South and Island Harbour, and not carrying through with certain projects. One of Richardson’s main concerns in the 2025 budget was the development of roads, and in particular the main road in his constituency, Road North.
However, the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure, Jose Vanterpool, acknowledged that though five roads were prioritized for development in the 2025 budget by the former APM administration, the actual cost of these roads developments would have amounted to EC$10.7 Million.
Notwithstanding, only EC$7 Million was originally allocated in the 2025 budget. This means that insufficient funds were available for developing these prioritized roads, which included the Road North road. Mr. Vanterpool reported that designs were not produced and negotiations with land owners were not yet completed.
“In this [current] budget, we see that there is an allocation for Road Rehabilitation and Development of EC$14 Million,” Vanterpool stated. “This is the largest budget for roads upgrade presented in the Anguilla House of Assembly. But still, when the Member asked why the North Hill road was not done this year, or why it is not proposed to be done in 2026, the reality is that while there is now EC$14 Million in this budget… for the benefit of the people of Anguilla, the amount that my Ministry requested for Road Rehabilitation and Development, was just over EC$20 Million.”
“So, all things being equal,” he said, “I still cannot do everything that I want to do with this EC$14 Million. The Opposition Members know how the budget process works. And again, with prudent fiscal management we will make do with this $14 Million. We are already working on roads, and we will do all within our power to make this amount stretch.”
“For example, we are doing work procurement this year for the pipes and other materials that would be needed for the 2026 roads,” Vanterpool explained. “So if we are able to stretch it and if there is additional resources, then maybe we would be able to move the North Hill road forward upon schedule. But unfortunately I cannot make a promise on that.”
In addition, Mr. Vanterpool said that in 2026 other road programmes will continue, including the road between South Hill and the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway.