{"id":128488,"date":"2021-05-05T18:05:45","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=128488"},"modified":"2021-05-05T18:29:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:29:46","slug":"gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemma Handy’s work permit has been approved says Labour Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Steadroy \u2018Cutie\u2019 Benjamin today stated that he signed a work permit for Gemma Handy of the Observer Media Group immediately as it was placed before him by officials of the Ministry of Labour.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Minister made this statement in response to an allegation by representatives of the Observer Group to regional media bodies that Ms Handy\u2019s work permit had deliberately not been renewed.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cMy Government, and I personally, strongly uphold freedom of the press and the right of media workers to practice their craft to the high journalistic standards to which they swear themselves. \u00a0 In the case of Ms Handy, her work permit expired on 6th January 2021, and, as all persons enjoying work permits are aware, applications for renewals are submitted three months before their expiry in order to ensure that no time elapses between the expiry of a permit and its renewal.\u00a0 However, my inquiries of the Ministry\u2019s officials reveal that Ms Handy did not apply for renewal until 16th February 2021 \u2013 four months after the required period.\u00a0 Nonetheless, and despite challenges of manpower caused by COVID-19, Ministry officials processed her application in just over two months, and I signed it immediately as it was placed before me\u201d, the Minister explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The Minister further stated: \u201cMy inquires as to why the renewed work permit has not yet been delivered to her is that her certificate, and that of others, are being laminated in bulk, and this was communicated to Ms Handy last week when she inquired\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Minister Benjamin lamented the obvious attempt to suggest denial of media freedom. \u00a0 He said: \u201cHad Ms Handy complied with the requirement to submit her application for a work permit renewal three months before the current one expired, she would have received it on time on January 7th.\u00a0 However, in disregard of the established rules, she submitted the application in February \u2013 four months late. \u00a0 Nonetheless, Ministry officials overcame their own challenges to complete her renewal process and that of many others within two months\u201d.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Minister expressed his concern that \u201cinstead of being appreciative of the lengths to which Ministry officials went to complete the process in record time despite her tardiness, representatives of Observer Media sought to tar the Government with an anti-media brush\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a sad commentary on the intent of the Observer Group and I hope Ms Handy will have the good grace to admit that, despite her own disregard of known rules governing all work permits, the Ministry of Labour, and I personally, went to great pains to give her a work permit in record time\u201d, Minister Benjamin concluded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Steadroy \u2018Cutie\u2019 Benjamin today stated that he signed a work permit for Gemma Handy of the Observer Media Group immediately as it was placed before him by officials of the Ministry of Labour.   The Minister made this statement in response to an allegation by representatives of the Observer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Steadroy \u2018Cutie\u2019 Benjamin today stated that he signed a work permit for Gemma Handy of the Observer Media Group immediately as it was placed before him by officials of the Ministry of Labour.   The Minister made this statement in response to an allegation by representatives of the Observer […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1136\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"818\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Gemma Handy’s work permit has been approved says Labour Minister\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\"},\"wordCount\":454,\"commentCount\":21,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\",\"name\":\"Gemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png\",\"width\":1136,\"height\":818},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gemma Handy’s work permit has been approved says Labour Minister\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister","og_description":"Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Steadroy \u2018Cutie\u2019 Benjamin today stated that he signed a work permit for Gemma Handy of the Observer Media Group immediately as it was placed before him by officials of the Ministry of Labour.   The Minister made this statement in response to an allegation by representatives of the Observer […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1136,"height":818,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"Gemma Handy’s work permit has been approved says Labour Minister","datePublished":"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/"},"wordCount":454,"commentCount":21,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/","name":"Gemma Handy's work permit has been approved says Labour Minister - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png","datePublished":"2021-05-05T22:05:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-05T22:29:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1136\/h:818\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gemma.png","width":1136,"height":818},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gemma-handys-work-permit-has-been-approved-says-labour-minister\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gemma Handy’s work permit has been approved says Labour Minister"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/128408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}