HURST REPORTS ON CABINET Of Wednesday 13 December 2023

HURST REPORTS ON CABINET Of Wednesday 13 December 2023

The Cabinet began its sitting with a prayer delivered by a minister of religion who chose to sermonize about the birth of Christ and the coming of God’s Kingdom on earth. Today’s was the last sitting of the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda before Christmas. Next meeting will be in 2024.

1. The Cabinet invited the Chief Immigration Officer and other members of her Department to its sitting; the Labour Commissioner and her Deputy, the Permanent Secretary in the Passport Office along with her Deputy were invited to its sitting, for the purpose of ensuring that the policy options selected by the Cabinet and the Parliament match the expectations and the anticipated outcomes which the Legislature set about to achieve with the granting of amnesty to the CARICOM citizens and the citizens of the Dominican Republic who may have failed to keep lawful their status in Antigua and Barbuda. An immigrant to Antigua and Barbuda, having spent four or more years in Antigua and Barbuda, is entitled to lawful residency. The members of Cabinet view the granting of amnesty to the immigrant who has not paid his renewal dues as having had his/her deficiency cured by the amnesty, putting that immigrant on the path to citizenship when he/she has spent seven years total and becomes eligible. The interpretation of the administrators was otherwise, requiring that immigrant to return to paying fees up until he/she has crossed the seven-year line and can present a valid certificate of residence with the application for citizenship. After very intense discussions, the Cabinet and the administrators agreed that a grant of amnesty would serve as proof sufficient that the immigrant has satisfied the requirement of “lawful presence”, by the presentation of the Amnesty Certificate. In other words, there would not be any need for an immigrant granted amnesty to return again and again to claim amnesty once that had been done once.

The issue of cancelling the requirement of work permits for citizens of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic employed in Antigua and Barbuda, commencing 1 January 2024, was also clarified for the Cabinet members. There would be no work permit fee, but an administrative fee of $100 for the processing of the request by the immigrant to seek employment in Antigua and Barbuda.

2. Two experts from the Ministry of Legal Affairs/The Attorney General’s Office presented three draft bills to be Laid on the Table when the Parliament convenes on Friday, 15 December 2023, for the presentation of the Budget Statement by the Finance Minister/Prime Minister. The Bill which proposes to change the ABST from 15% to 17% is among the three. An amendment to the “sin taxes” on alcohol and tobacco and gaming, will also be introduced. There will also be a small increase in airport taxes to reflect the revenue requirement to meet the obligations of operating the airport.
3. The Dean of the American University of Antigua (AUA) and his assistant were invited to the Cabinet meeting to provide an update on the construction of a convention center that will serve the May 2024 SIDS Conference that will take place in Antigua. More than 5,000 delegates are expected to attended from all 194 U.N. Member States. The AUA Conference Center will be able to safely seat 1,500 delegates. 2,500 delegates will be housed in hotels and other accommodation; the other 2,500 may be housed in a cruise liner that will remain docked at St. John’s Harbour during the days of the SIDS Conference.
4. The Cabinet received an update on the runway and terminal in Barbuda that were scheduled to be opened in this December month. A new date for the first-use will likely be after Christmas 2023. More than US$14 million have been expended to construct a 6,100-foot runway, on Barbuda’s south side, that is to be extended by 1,000 more feet in the coming months. Several super-luxury, low-density hotels are to be constructed on Barbuda in the coming year, making Barbuda a net contributor to the revenue collection of the Inland Revenue Department.
5. Cabinet was suspended at 12:15 pm on this 13 December 2023, in order to allow members to attend the official funeral of Ambassador Ramez Hadeed. On Thursday morning, 14 December 2023, the members will attend the funeral of James Tanny Rose, to be held at the St. John’s Anglican Cathedral. On Friday morning, beginning at 9:00 am, the Parliament will convene for the 2024 Budget statement.

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