ANGLEC’s plans to create a new headquarters on five acres of land in The Valley have been “sandbagged” by procurement issues, according to the chair of the board of directors.
The development on the Stoney Ground Road site that includes the remodelling of the former Caracasbaai Supermarket was originally projected to be completed by December 2025,
However, during an interview with Premier Cora Richardson Hodge for the Just the Facts programme on 24 March, ANGLEC chair David Carty said moving forward has been a “rough road”.
Get members-only articles and editorials, giveaways and discount codes with Anguilla Focus. Click here to join from just $4/month.
“We’ve been sandbagged a bit by procurement issues and a lot of difficulties, bureaucratic issues between ourselves and procurement,” he said.
“But we are at the verge of getting past that, and I’m very positive that action will start taking place very shortly, that will begin to move it in the direction we had hoped to move it months ago.”
Carty said ANGLEC, a publicly traded utilities company in which the government controls the majority of the shares, “made a very good decision” when buying the US$2.25 million property.
“I think there’s a vision for that, that in the fullness of time, would be a very impressive addition to what will be in the future the city of The Valley,” he said.
He added: “I think in time, it will be something that we can all be very proud of, although, right now it doesn’t look that way, I’m sure it will in time to come.”
During parliamentary questions in the Anguilla House of Assembly on 25 November 2025, opposition member Haydn Hughes grilled utilities minister Jose Vanterpool on the project.
He asked whether an evaluation had been conducted to confirm that the expenditure provides value for money.
Vanterpool said it had, explaining that while the property was bought for $2.25m, its appraised value at the time was more than $4m.
“It is estimated that the renovation work will cost approximately $800,000. Upon completion, the property will exceed the market value of its appraised value at the time of acquisition,” he said.
The minister said the findings along with the opinion of an expert concluded that the existing supermarket building provides a “sound base”, thereby reducing renovation and construction time.
“Renovation costs will be significantly lower than full new construction at an alternate site – the location allows for efficient logistics, for equipment storage and operational movement,” he said.
Asked if the project was on track, Vanterpool at the time said it was but that the pace it moves is subject to procurement legislation and supply chain factors.
He went on to explain that some work had commenced on the supermarket building including the gutting and removal of temporary internal structures and opening of walls.
The minister said that this work would have cost below the minimum spend that triggers government’s procurement process.
