Cabinet began its regular weekly meeting with prayers delivered by a Minister of religion who addressed the subject of courage.
1. The Cabinet welcomed the Honourable Anthony Smith Jr. to the executive body, several members sharing their views on the impact which the independent Parliamentary Representative will have on the decision-making in government. Today was his first exposure to the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda, and he noted the myriad decision-making that the members of Cabinet engaged in throughout the day. He was especially impressed by Prime Minister and Chairman of the Cabinet, the Hon. Gaston Browne, who mediated among strong opinions expressed by members on different subject areas. He expressed the view that no other leader whom he has observed has displayed the skills required to quickly settle differences between advocates of varying views. At the end of the Cabinet meeting, at about 7pm, he thanked members for accommodating him today and remarked that he looks forward to being in the Parliament on Thursday morning at 9:30am when the deliberative body commences its sitting.
2. The Cabinet invited a 9-person team from the Ministry of Finance to report on revenues, expenditure, and the fiscal health of the Treasury of Antigua and Barbuda. The Financial Secretary, the Deputy Financial Secretary, the Accountant General, Deputy Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department, the Comptroller of Customers, the Debt Manager, and other officials attended. They reported that from January to June of 2023, revenues totaled a little more than 500 million dollars; a year later, in 2024 January to June, revenues climbed to almost 560 million dollars. Expenditure nevertheless, in the same period, exceeded 780 million dollars creating a deficit of a little more than 220 million dollars or about 40 million dollars a month on average.
3. (i). The Cabinet looked especially at the hotels and their contribution to revenues. Despite having more customers from January to June in 2024 than they did in the same period of 2023, taxes did not increase in any significant way. The Cabinet is of the view that many hotels are under-reporting their income. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has commenced an investigation into this anomaly, but agrees that data collection is very slow. Hence, quarterly audits of the hotels are being planned so that the ability to plug holes through which revenues leak can be more easily detected. The hotel sector is the largest private sector economic actor in Antigua and Barbuda.
3. (ii) The Cabinet is of the view that many businesses submit inflated invoices to the Ministries for onward transmission to the Treasury, such that even small businesses frequently submit invoices that exceed the value of their business. The Cabinet is of the view that this over-invoicing is endemic and will resist making payments that do not comport with the value of goods and services sold.
3 (iii) The Cabinet held a discussion and decided to increase the minimum occupational pensions to former employees of government from $800 to $1000, effective August 1, 2024. The other categories of pensioners, with the exception of those receiving parliamentary pensions, will benefit from an increase in their pension payments of seven percent.
4. The Cabinet agreed to work closely with Credit Unions to expand ownership of lands and housing with the hope of strengthening home ownership. Credit Unions serve a majority of customers who earn average-incomes within a certain bandwidth; the Cabinet agreed that this population is under-served and, therefore, Cabinet will make every effort to ensure that home ownership can become a reality for this group. The Cabinet is therefore planning to enter a special arrangement with Credit Unions to enable them to finance more mortgages for their customers.
5. The Attorney General addressed the subject of criminals with guns. He reported to Cabinet on his meeting with the Top Brass of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda. The Police will initiate every tried-and-tested method in order to seize illegal firearms and to keep innocent citizens safe and secure. In this Carnival season, greater vigilance will take place and everyone is asked to cooperate to reduce the potential for robberies.
6. (i) Cabinet held a very brief discussion on LIAT (2020) and the possible startup date for its re–commencement of commercial flights. Although a precise date has not yet been decided, the Cabinet is confident LIAT will take to the skies in early August 2024.
(ii) The Cabinet is still awaiting a decision by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in relation to 12.1 million US dollars which Antigua and Barbuda has paid over for the purchase of three aircraft, and the re-purposing of that money to pay former LIAT employees.
7. The Cabinet commended two young Antiguan and Barbudan women who are Chevening Scholars and will go off to the UK in pursuit of Master’s Degrees. One will pursue an MSc in Ballistics. Another will attend the London School of Science in pursuit of an MSc in Gender Policy and Inequalities.
8. (i) The Minister of Health noted that at an important meeting of Medical Doctors here in Antigua, the issue of Precision Medicine was introduced. No longer will the experts proceed with the notion that one-size-fits-all. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies, medicines that are specific to the needs of a person will be administered – no more, no less, than is required. The Cabinet agreed that it is an exciting development in medicinal care and will welcome those who are trained in the application of AI to medicine.
(ii) Investment in a sub-sea cable is confirmed. In the application of AI, the UWI Five Islands Campus will use enormous quantities of data; hence, there is great excitement in the capabilities of the broadband services which will become available to institutions, enterprises, and individuals. While economic advantages will result, human advancement in other endeavors will follow, the Cabinet found.
(iii) The Minister of Education repeated the proposal to have security cameras mounted at certain schools. The Cabinet agreed that before certain schools reopen in September, they will have security cameras mounted to discourage vandalism and theft. (iv) The Cabinet expresses its heartiest congratulations to the Olympic athletes who will leave Antigua in the coming days to participate in several sporting disciplines in the Paris Olympics, France.
