Browne Says EC$11 Million Being Invested to Prepare Deluxe Property for CHOGM
Prime Minister Gaston Browne says the government has committed more than EC$11 million to refurbish and equip the Deluxe property as a key venue for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November.
Speaking on his Browne and Browne radio programme, Browne said approximately EC$7 million has already been advanced toward preparing the facility, with an additional EC$4 million recently approved to outfit the building with seating, electronics and related infrastructure .
He said the upgraded venue is expected to accommodate close to 1,000 people and will be used to host the official opening ceremony of CHOGM, which is expected to draw dozens of heads of government and senior delegates from across the Commonwealth.
Browne said the availability of the Deluxe property has proven critical to Antigua and Barbuda’s hosting plans, noting that constructing a new facility of that scale within the available timeframe would not have been feasible. He said the government opted instead to repurpose and modernize the existing structure to meet international conference standards.
The prime minister added that beyond CHOGM, the facility is intended to serve as a permanent performing arts and cultural center, forming part of the government’s longer-term investment in the creative industries and national infrastructure.
He said the project reflects the country’s capacity to deliver major international events while ensuring that public investments leave a lasting legacy beyond the summit itself .
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Why would they want to bring the summit in town and disrupt traffic further? Somebody is not using their head. Traffic is already congested on normal days and you know they are going to block off High Street and the route the heads of countries will be using.
This is just crazy. I hope I’m on vacation when that time comes so I can avoid the city. Smdh
It is a stupid decision. Have the appropriate experts been consulted? What about traffic flow..parking arrangements, etc..sounds to me that this idea should be put to the Experts to evaluate…this event will put Antigua under the spotlight..for heavens sake Mr. PM..let us do it right..
Well! Here I was thinking the same thing……so we can consider town closed for however long this summit is! Security protocols, parking restrictions……what peabrain came up with this? Isn’t this supposed to be the purpose of the Multi Purpose Center.? That too could use some work before it completely turns to DUST
They found the perfect justification to wrong invest Public funds.
We already have a big Multipurpose Center. With 11 million EC is enough to bring Multipurpose center shine again. But noo. Let it deteriorate more, and more and wasting this money in a trashy building in the middle of St. John’s that is complete unpractical for meetings and others activities.
Who decided this? Black free people in Charge of a Government funds.
Who to blame if this doesn’t work? Racism and slavery card ready to pull up, and/or UPP members, maybe Trump also is going to get some blame. Who knows.