A government moratorium on new supermarkets and hardware stores that lapsed in December last year has been reinstated to protect existing businesses.
During an interview on Radio Anguilla on 6 June, industry and planning minister Kyle Hodge explained that the restriction was first introduced in 2019.
“It was rolled over at least on two occasions to continue the restriction of additional supermarkets and hardwares – because we have enough based on our population size,” he said.
The moratorium, which means all planning or licence applications will be rejected, expired on 31 December last year under the administration of former premier Ellis Webster.
“Once people realised the moratorium was not in place and they were free now to apply for licences across the board, for supermarkets and hardwares, applications started to roll in,” Hodge said.
One notable application was from an Asian-owned hardware store in West End, which was granted a licence from the Department of Commerce within the past two months.
“We didn’t have enough time to be able to put the moratorium back in place before that happened,” the minister said, adding that it is now in place for the next three years.
Hodge stressed that it was one of the first things the new administration did upon election in February “to protect that sector from itself”.
During a sitting of the Anguilla House of Assembly a week prior on 27 May, Hodge explained that the Licensing of Businesses Act came into effect on 31 December, 2021.
It allowed the commerce minister, with the approval of of Executive Council, to issue ministerial orders prohibiting the issuance of licences in specific industries.
Hodge said through that, he made the Licensing of Businesses Moratorium on Supermarkets and Hardware Stores Order, which came into force on 15 May.
The order prohibits the issuance of new business licences for supermarkets and hardware stores for a period of three years but does not apply to renewals of existing businesses in these sectors.
The minister said there are already 44 supermarkets and 15 hardware stores in Anguilla which he told members was “more than sufficient”.
“This renewed moratorium… is designed to prevent further over saturation of these retail sectors and to promote responsible economic planning,” he concluded.
