HURST REPORTS ON CABINET of Wednesday 26 February 2025
The Cabinet began its sitting with convocations by a Minister of Religion who read from Philippians and prayed for the Cabinet members.
Both the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, along with the Minister of Education, attended the funeral service for the former Magistrate Conliff Clarke. Cabinet was chaired by Minister Molwyn Joseph until the Chairman returned from the funeral.
1. The Cabinet welcomed the Chairperson of the Princess Margaret School (PMS) Alumni Association, accompanied by the Principal and two executive members of the Association. The school was founded 70 years ago on April 26 1955, and is planning a refurbishment of the buildings, the industrial training center, the playing field, and to fence it properly. The cost is likely to exceed a half-million dollars; no specific dates and timelines have been proposed for the commencement of these projects. However, a facelift of the main building for the 70th anniversary celebration is expected. The Cabinet was told that there are four schools in the world named after Princess Margaret; one is in London, one in Canada, one in Barbados, and the fourth in Antigua. There is no intention to re-name the school. The PMS is well known for its prowess in sports and CXC regional exams. A plan is afoot to upgrade the hall, built to accommodate 250 students maximum; today, the student body is now made up of 955 youth. The field is to become a multipurpose sporting area used by other schools and community groups. The Cabinet promised to do all that it can to support the effort, with the guaranteed support of the Chairman of Cabinet and the Minister of Health—both PMS alumni.
2. The Cabinet invited the Port Manager, a representative from Blue Ocean Dredging, and the General Manager of APUA, to address the issue of dredging in the North Sound area leading to Crabbs. There is a need to bring bigger cement-carrying vessels to Crabbs in order to make more cement regularly available to contractors. At present, the cement delivered to Crabbs by smaller vessels is all sold within 24 hours; one week passes before the storage unit is re-supplied. For this reason, the larger vessels, requiring greater draughts, compel that the channel leading to Crabbs must be dredged to a greater depth. APUA also purchases Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to power a modern electricity plant that has recently been built. The ships which bring the LNG also need a draught deeper than what now exists; hence, the need for dredging and the involvement of APUA in the discussions. Blue Ocean will join with another firm to minimize the number of days which the dredging will require. APUA will also make the payments to Blue Ocean for the dredging work.
3. The General Manager of APUA was asked to address a water supply shortage reported by several Ministers, within their constituencies. He reported that the R/O plant at Crabbs usually provides 4.5 million gallons of potable water daily. The plant is 27 years old and requires maintenance from time to time, which causes it to go offline. Currently, it is only producing 1.5 million gallons of water; by the end of the week, the General Manager reported that it will be back up to 4.5 million gallons. The RO plant at Fort James is adversely impacted by rough seas and high turbidity; it is producing 900,000 gallons of potable water each day, while its capacity is 1.5 million gallons. A super filtration system is being added to that plant and, wells which fill up with water that has been filtered by the earth, will also be dug in and around Fort James. The plant at Pigeon Point relies upon wells and operates at 100% capacity despite turbid waters; its capacity is less than one million gallons per day, and is intended to supply the villages in St. Paul. The General Manager also explained that hundreds of valves have to be adjusted daily whenever water is to be diverted from one destination to another. For example, at nights when demand subsides, water is diverted to reservoirs in order to meet additional demands during the day or for storage in the event the R/O plants may shut off for any reason.
4. a. The Minister of Health reported that 10 new garbage trucks have arrived in Antigua
 to lessen the burden on the National Solid Waste Management Authority, and to reduce the dependence on private providers.  Efficient and reliable household garbage-collection is absolutely necessary for a cleaner Antigua and Barbuda; and, proper disposal of waste results in a much prettier and habitable environment for tourists and residents alike. Several Litter Wardens are being dispatched to ticket those who would dispose of their garbage in an unlawful order.
b. The new public cemetery at Tomlinson’s could begin to receive burials by the end of next month. The roads within the cemetery and the parking apron have been delayed primarily by rain, which makes utilizing cement and other materials untenable until the soil dries.
5. The Cabinet commenced a discussion with an investor who wants to purchase the old Jolly Beach hotel and to refurbish it for use. He has demonstrated that the resources required are already in an account and that he is prepared to invest up to USD$15 to $20 million to make it a four-star hotel ready to receive guests. The Cabinet is considering providing the investor with a lease of the property for 50 years. Other developments in and around Jolly Beach will commence later this year, including the Nikki Beach project.
6. Parliament will convene on Thursday morning, 27th February 2025 at 9:30am. On the list of the Agenda are resolutions, first readings of several bills, second and third readings of several new and amended laws.
