{"id":247526,"date":"2025-08-25T06:59:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=247526"},"modified":"2025-08-24T22:29:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:29:44","slug":"parliament-meets-today-protests-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Meets Today, Protests Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Antigua\u2019s Parliament to Debate Jolly Beach Social Security Plan on Monday<\/strong><\/p>

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Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Parliament is set to convene on Monday with the government\u2019s controversial Jolly Beach\u2013Social Security investment plan<\/strong> expected to dominate the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended the transfer of Jolly Beach assets to the Social Security Scheme as a strategy to generate higher long-term returns and secure the fund\u2019s future. He has rejected opposition claims that $75 million is being withdrawn from pensioners\u2019 savings<\/strong>, insisting that the resort will serve as collateral and a revenue-generating investment.<\/p>

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Lawmakers will also consider a series of social and environmental measures, including the creation of a Social Housing Development Fund<\/strong>, seed funding for affordable housing, and the government\u2019s One Million Trees initiative<\/strong> designed to improve the country\u2019s environment.<\/p>

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The sitting comes amid heightened political tensions. The United Progressive Party (UPP)<\/strong> has announced plans to stage a protest outside Parliament during Monday\u2019s proceedings, accusing the government of putting pension funds at risk and failing to provide adequate time for scrutiny of the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browne has dismissed the opposition\u2019s stance as misinformation, arguing that Social Security will benefit directly from new revenue streams generated by Jolly Beach and other developments. The government has also pledged to provide a written guarantee that any potential losses would be covered by the Treasury.<\/p>

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The debate is expected to be one of the most closely watched sessions in recent months, with both government and opposition framing it as a defining moment for the future of Social Security and national development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Antigua\u2019s Parliament to Debate Jolly Beach Social Security Plan on Monday Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Parliament is set to convene on Monday with the government\u2019s controversial Jolly Beach\u2013Social Security investment plan expected to dominate the agenda. Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended the transfer of Jolly Beach assets to the Social Security Scheme as a strategy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nParliament Meets Today, Protests Expected - 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\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliament Meets Today, Protests Expected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Antigua\u2019s Parliament to Debate Jolly Beach Social Security Plan on Monday Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Parliament is set to convene on Monday with the government\u2019s controversial Jolly Beach\u2013Social Security investment plan expected to dominate the agenda. Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended the transfer of Jolly Beach assets to the Social Security Scheme as a strategy […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-08-25T10:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-25T02:29:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1440\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Antigua-parliament.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\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\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Parliament Meets Today, Protests Expected\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-25T10:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-25T02:29:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\"},\"wordCount\":268,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1440\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Antigua-parliament.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-meets-today-protests-expected\/\",\"name\":\"Parliament Meets Today, Protests Expected - 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