HURST REPORTS ON CABINET of Wednesday 9 October 2024

HURST REPORTS ON CABINET OF Wednesday 9 October 2024

The Cabinet sitting commenced with a prayer from a priest who last ministered to the Cabinet a year ago.

1. The Cabinet held a discussion on the successes of Barbuda, especially the opening of the Burton-Nibbs International Airport. The Cabinet noted that the Barbuda Council did not attend the opening ceremony, and that more than 400 persons occupied all the seats that were placed on the tarmac for the ceremony. More than 5 aircraft were also parked on the tarmac, having flown more than 120 people into Barbuda for the opening ceremony. It was a historic event for the twin-island state, the Cabinet declared. Many new projects are to come on stream in Barbuda in the coming year, to include a deep-water harbor that can accommodate cargo ships that can carry multiple containers. In all likelihood, the new pier will be placed elsewhere and not where the current River Dock is situated.

i. The Joint Coordinating Committee consisting of the Barbuda Council and members of Cabinet was scheduled to meet on Thursday 10th October. The members were to discuss an agenda of ten substantive matters to include the matter of expansion of renewable energy, the construction of a new primary school, $50 million to be spent on roads. No new date has been set. The Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda will ban the export of sand from both Antigua and Barbuda, but to continue to allow for the mining of sand for domestic use. The Barbuda Council has asked for an indefinite delay in the meeting of a Joint Consultative Committee.

ii. The Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda will likely place the prohibition of sand exports in law, given the harm done to the environment by removal of sand in large quantities from Barbuda. An environmental expert gave an assessment on the quantum of sand removed over the past 50 years and the impossibility of continuing for even a short period; the expert addressed the impact of sand removal on fresh water aquafers (brackish water), sand dunes as high as 12 to 14 ft., and the harm to coral reefs (that reduce wave energy during storms and ground swells). The Cabinet therefore agreed to ban the fishing of parrot fish which produce much of the sand that encases the 62 square miles of land of Barbuda.

2. A total of 10 officials from Inland Revenue Department, Ministry of Legal Affairs, ONDCP, FSRC and the Intellectual Property Office were invited to Cabinet to address Antigua and Barbuda being removed from the EU Blacklist of States that are non-compliant. The effort to achieve a compliant status was a consequence of joint collaboration among the many departments of government that exercise control and implementation of laws, intended primarily to safeguard the domestic banking system.  The EU is most interested in eliminating what it deems to be ”Unfair Tax Competition” by jurisdictions whose offshore financial systems draw many of their wealthy citizens to undertake banking in places like Antigua. A reporting system, provided by ONDCP and FSRC, requiring collection and collating data submitted by private and public institutions; that report is submitted to the Cabinet before it is dispatched to oversight agencies that grade Antigua and Barbuda.

3. The Cabinet invited the architect—who sits on the National Assets Management Company (NAMCO) board—to breathe new life into the first project to be undertaken by NAMCO. The 15 year old carpark that is located on Independence Avenue, which was started under the previous administration, is to be rehabilitated. Having purchased the incomplete structure for a bargain basement price, the NAMCO will invest millions of dollars to turn the upper floor into ABS Studios that will provide further modernity to television, radio and social networking. The ground floor will be occupied by a paying leasehold firm that will provide significant returns to government as the landlord. The NAMCO board will meet in two weeks when it will take many decisions that are to be communicated to the Cabinet.

4. The Attorney General announced that two units at the former PAN AM Base are to serve as a detention center for juvenile delinquents that are held elsewhere. Some retrofitting of the units will take place shortly and the youth will be relocated from their current location to this temporary detention center.  

5. The Cabinet held a discussion on the machines in the cancer center that are proving to be a stumbling block towards returning the Center for the benefit of cancer patients. Those patients must now journey to Colombia and elsewhere to undergo treatment since the center has closed its doors. The Cabinet is eager to have the center reopen to treat the cancer patients in Antigua and Barbuda and other OECS Countries. The equipment in the center has been in a state of neglect for many years; no maintenance has taken place and, since they are more than 10 years old, obsolete. The new owners of the building are seeking to have the owner of the machines to remove them from the building; however, the owners of the machines are seeking to extract a considerable sum from the owners of the building.

6. The Government is in the final stages of acquiring the 10 acres of land from the Estate of Eunice Edwards, on which to construct the new Five Islands Primary School. One of the conditions of sale is the erection (by the Government) of boundary fencing around the 10 acres of land being acquired. The contractor has been engaged to construct the new primary school; however, the contractor will not have access to the site until this condition is satisfied. The Cabinet agreed to the terms for the fence’s construction.

7. The Cabinet examined two hotel projects that are soon to begin construction. The architect and manager, who came to visit the site and to complete drawings, was invited to Cabinet to share details on the extent of one of the projects. It is estimated that the four-star hotel at Yeptons can be completed within 24 months after construction starts. A quick update on the Environmental Impact Assessment was provided by an expert who joined the Cabinet by zoom. The hotel will be fifty rooms large, will be multi–storied and will be designed to capture the eyes. No date for the start has yet been identified.