Hurst Reports on Cabinet of 6 November 2024

The Cabinet sitting commenced with a prayer, as is the weekly custom, when a Minister of Religion seeks God’s blessings and guidance.

The Cabinet held a lengthy discussion on the tragic death of Member of Parliament, Honourable Asot Michael. During the discussion, the Attorney General called the Commissioner of Police to try to learn of any new developments in what has become a criminal investigation.

The Cabinet agreed that it would seek the expert assistance from Scotland Yard to investigate the MP’s death, and the deaths of two youthful females for which there are yet no suspects. The Cabinet also decided that an Official Funeral will be afforded the slain Parliamentarian. Cabinet expressed its sympathy to the entire Michael family including his son Nigel, his sisters Teresa-Ann and Soraya, his constituents and all the people who loved him.

The Cabinet invited two groups, separately, to address the issue of transitioning from paper Electronic Embarkation/Disembarkation (ED) Cards to Electronic ED Cards, for all passengers entering Antigua and Barbuda. The Customs and Excise Division, The Immigration Department, the Inland Revenue Department and Officials from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Finance were all present to evaluate the proposals and to help Cabinet determine which is the better-suited firm. Last week, Cabinet invited another firm to make a similar presentation since the Gaston Browne Administration is determined to ensure that the transition takes place before December 31. All three firms, in presenting to Cabinet, addressed the capability of better marketing, improved research capability, and identification of persons of interest from any police database. The Cabinet has not yet determined which of the three will become the supplier; however, cost considerations will remain a critical factor in the decision-making.

The Cabinet invited the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, his Deputy, a Legal Advisor and a technician to address the brewing ABST discord with Sandals Resort and Spa. The Prime Minister has learned from the IRD that the resort has not been paying-over all the ABST which it has collected from its customers, upon checkout. The ABST is a tax which is imposed on the totality of the bill that a guest at the hotel has incurred during their stay. It is the Government’s money, collected by the hotel on behalf of the Government. During the previous administration, an arrangement had been made with the property for it to deduct a portion of the ABST to compensate for the marketing of the Antigua destination when the resort was advertised. When the Gaston Browne administration learned of this practice, it immediately reversed that policy and required the hotel to pay 100% of its ABST collection to the Inland Revenue Department. It appears that the resort has re-commenced making similar deductions; the IRD has made a demand for an amount exceeding $24 million collected between 2017 and 2021. The IRD is continuing its audit to investigate the deficit in payments made in 2022 and 2023. The Cabinet has also learned that workers at the hotel are not allowed to accept tips from customers but must place all tips received into a pool, which goes towards funding the Sandals Foundation. The Cabinet is considering legislation that will compel hoteliers to pay tips to workers and not to divert those resources to other ends.

The Cabinet invited the General Manager of APUA and four other APUA managers to address the issue of water, electricity, a sub-sea cable and the dredging of the channel in the Maiden Island area. The Cabinet learned that four new reservoirs (tanks) have been added to the eight that already exist, which together are capable of holding more than 5 million gallons of stored potable water. Potworks Dam, which is capable of holding more than 1 billion gallons of water, is currently providing no water at all compelling the APUA to desalinate more than 8 million gallons daily using its reverse osmosis plants. Underground aquifers in the Bendals area, the Cabinet was told, are providing more than 250 gallons of potable water daily. The aim is to make APUA less reliant on rainfall as global climate change proceeds to make Antigua and Barbuda a drier place.

The Manager responsible for Telephones and I.T. services again spoke about the sub-sea cable which is contemplated for APUA broadband services. The utility company currently purchases its broadband capacity from another carrier whose user rates can fluctuate. The Gaston Browne administration has been giving thought to its own sub-sea cable which it believes will reduce cost and make APUA more competitive.

iii. APUA was assigned the responsibility of dredging a deeper channel in the Maiden Island area to allow for vessels with a deeper draught to transit to the cement silos at Crabbes and for tanks of LNG to be offloaded near the LNG electricity plant also at Crabbes Peninsula. The dates of completion of the dredging have been pushed back more than once and a completion date in January 2025 is now being offered. The Cabinet has compelled APUA and the dredging company to get together in order to bring forward the date of completion of the channel. The officials will meet tomorrow, Thursday

The Cabinet invited a Civil and Coastal Engineer to report on the site for the new cargo dock, to be built on the south side of Barbuda. The river dock has been deemed inappropriate for large cargo vessels since it is vulnerable, surrounded by sand. A new dock to be built on bedrock about a quarter mile away is more appropriate, the coastal engineer told the Cabinet.

Three major studies are yet to be carried out: a. A Seabed Composition; b. A Geotechnical Study; c. A Maintenance Plan to avoid siltation. When a detailed plan is developed, a meeting with the Barbuda Council is sure to follow.

The Cabinet was informed that 5,000 chicks have been imported to start the chicken farm for the young men who were engaged in rival gang activity. The chicks will be fed a special diet that will allow those that are grown for meat to be harvested in thirty days; and, those that are to be layers will begin laying as many as three eggs per day, to be sold to families and supermarkets.

The Cabinet has asked the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to commence preparations for the hosting of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly, approximately seven months away. A Planning Committee is being established that will be modeled on the Planning Committee that organized the highly successful SIDS4 Conference in May.