My Fellow Antiguans and Barbudans;
Residents and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
On this our Silver Jubilee Anniversary of Independence, I greet you with warm joyful wishes.
I also greet you in the name of our Creator and Provider who gives us daily strength and protection.
Today we sing a special song of praise to Him who has guided our paths over the past 25 years.
We give thanks to our Lord, for he is good. His Love and mercy endure forever.
We give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds to Antigua and Barbuda.
Let us all give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness and sing praise to His Name – the Most High.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
The 25th Anniversary of our political Independence is a time for sober reflection and renewed dedication to building a stronger Antigua and Barbuda.
Today, we can proudly say that Antigua and Barbuda is decidedly stronger economically and socially than it was 25 years ago.
On that historic day of November 1, 1981 when the National Flag was raised for the first time symbolizing the attainment of the authority to conduct our own affairs; we all pledged to commence a journey to steer the ship of state, through a course towards a fairer Antigua and Barbuda; A just Antigua and Barbuda; An Antigua and Barbuda in which our religious and cultural freedoms are preserved;
An Antigua and Barbuda where our democracy is protected and an Antigua and Barbuda where each of us endeavor, all of us achieve.
My government, over the past two and a half years started a journey towards empowering our people to fully embrace the challenges of the future. That journey is not an easy one. There is still a long road ahead of us to fully empower all our people.
It is one that requires much hard work by everyone for the benefit of each one.
It requires all of us to answer now to duty’s call. To serve our country, sparing nothing, giving all.
Today, we can proudly look forward to a better tomorrow and work together for the good of every national and every citizen. My government’s new standards of fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability in governance have placed our nation on a firm footing.
In our nation’s 25th year of Independence, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank reports that our economic outlook for the remainder of 2006 and beyond is bright.
The ECCB reported that for the first half of 2006, the country achieved an impressive real economic growth rate of 11.23 percent, with an expected rise to 12 percent by the end of the year. This is against the backdrop of the rest of the Eastern Caribbean recording an average growth rate of 5.23 percent.
Our country’s rate of change in price levels for 2006 was recorded as being the lowest in the region, 2.1 percent compared to 2.8 percent for the Eastern Caribbean. Our policies to improve the economic landscape of Antigua and Barbuda are bearing fruit.
Recognizing that to fully empower our people, we must be able to hold our heads high in regional and international circles, my government also embarked on a campaign to repair the credit worthiness of our nation.
In the first half of this year, the Government issued $151 million in Treasury bills and Bonds on the Regional Government Securities Market RGSM.
This historic initiative by the government was part of an overall strategy to improve our debt profile, reduce the cost of borrowing and enhance credibility through the use of more transparent credit mechanisms. Of the $151 million, the Government issued $51 million in Treasury Bills through three tranches of $17 million – all were over subscribed.
The US$26 million and EC$30 million in bonds were also over subscribed. The success of these Treasury Bills and Bonds shows the great extent to which the United Progressive Party Administration has repaired the credit reputation of Antigua and Barbuda locally, regionally and internationally.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
My government recognizes that in order to empower our people to embrace the future with confidence we must have a strategic educational development policy.
Our recent thrust to educate our people has borne tremendous fruit in recent times. Never before have there been so many young Antiguans and Barbudans studying abroad. In the short period of less than three years, we have moved from little or no scholarships being awarded to our people to over 150 with many other countries offering to educate our people.
This investment in our people is the result of our country’s new found image regionally and internationally and the diligent work of our representatives abroad.
In a further thrust to expand government’s efforts to empower its people, we will break ground today for the Civil Works component of the Technical and Vocational Education Project STAVEP.
This project is designed to strengthen the Technical and Vocational Education programme at the Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education (ABICE) and the Department of Engineering & Construction at the Antigua State College.
The project, which is being funded by the European Union to the tune of 4.3 million euros, is expected to be completed in 2008.
A regionally accredited new and revised Technical Vocational Training curriculum has also already been developed.
This will facilitate the Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education (ABICE) offering cosmetology up to level 4 and plumbing, welding, electronics, carpentry, masonry and woodwork being offered at levels 1 and 2.
A plan has also been developed for the introduction of a modular approach to a competence based Technical Vocational Training curriculum that is formulated on a system of credits.
At the tertiary level, my government has upgraded the Teacher Education Programme at the Antigua State College to offer the Associate Degree which is accredited by the University of the West Indies.
This year, enrollment of the programme has expanded to the extent where the department had to be relocated to a larger facility.
The Ministry of Education is also finalizing plans to commence an evening programme which will be opened to qualified individuals who are desirous of pursing a course of study in teacher education.
The Business Department at the Antigua State College has also been upgraded and is offering an Associate Degree in Business Studies which exceeds the guidelines set down for the degree by the Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions (ACTI).
Government will also later this month break ground to construct a Learning Resource Centre to be funded by the European Union.
In addition to meeting my government obligations to empower our people, we have been meeting our social commitments to our people.
We have delivered on our promise of free school uniforms for our nation’s children.
This year, 15, 503 children received Government vouchers for free school uniforms for the current school year.
The National School Meals Programme, under the banner of Nutrition for Learning has been enjoying tremendous and historic success since its launch on September 11.
Over the past seven weeks since the commencement of the programme, the number of participants has steadily increased. As of October 31, the total number of meals served exceeds 50, 000.
The benefits of the programme also extend beyond the boundaries of the nine pilot schools. Our farmers, fishers, the Central Marketing Corporation and wholesalers are supplying produce and other commodity items consistently to the programme.
Our principals, teachers, students and parents are all giving positive and encouraging reports.
Schools have observed drastic reduction in conflict among students, increased responsibility by older students, noticeable attentiveness during afternoon classes and improvement in overall behaviour.
The time afforded to our students to have a meal together as a school family also presents a unique opportunity to enhance social skills as well as gain greater insight into their peers.
Today, we reaffirm our commitment to expand the National School Meals Programme into other schools for the 2007 academic year.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
In my government’s contract with the people, we pledged to develop a comprehensive e-government platform to provide the population with easier access to government information and services, and to generally increase the efficiency of interactions between government and its citizens.
We also pledged to computerize all government departments to ensure that technology infrastructure remain at the leading edge and can deliver reliable government services at the lowest cost.
Further, we pledged to utilize computerized technology to provide secure, efficient and cost effective record keeping and retrieval.
Today we have reached those goals with tremendous success.
We have so far established one of six modern community computer access centres equipped with high speed computers and high speed internet access providing access to computers and the internet in order to build an inclusive information society.
We have opened a new parliament building which is fully wi-fi ready. The parliament building will also house the government’s data storage unit.
The country’s Land Registry and Survey’s Department are fully computerized, operating the Landfolio Cadastre’ programme.
The Civil Registry of the High Court of Justice will soon be computerized, equipped with special security features to prevent fraud in respect of Birth and Death Certificates.
New undersea fibre optic cables are to be landed in Antigua by the end of this year to ensure greater connectivity, which will in turn provide tremendous economic opportunity for Antigua and Barbuda.
To further empower our people, I am pleased to announce that my government has taken the unprecedented step of officially and legally granting to the first batch of twenty-five farmers, long term leases of up to fifty years for government lands on which they have been farming.
This is the first time in the history of Antigua and Barbuda that farmers will be enjoying this type of security of tenure. This is also another fulfillment of my government’s manifesto promise to farmers.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
My Government is very concerned about the issue of crime and violence in our nation especially the recent upsurge among our young people.
We have been exploring a number of ways of attacking this destructive element which has the potential to destroy our nation.
The government believes that our young people are this nation’s future; they must be physically and mentally prepared for it, in addition to possessing the right values to govern and make sound decisions.
Today, I call on professionals and leaders within our society to join forces with the government in our quest to save our young people. By our working together we will help our young people to overcome the many hurdles that confront them on a daily basis.
My government pledges to provide full support to our churches and community organizations in their efforts to save our young people.
While we recognize that our young people are our future, we must provide an environment where our elderly can feel safe and secure.
Our police officers who are the custodians of the law and the promoters of peace must be given our full support. If we as responsible members of our community live by our Christian pledge to be our brothers’ keeper; our homes, communities and schools will be a safer place.
My government recommits itself to providing our law enforcement officers, our teachers, our nurses and doctors, our fire officers and providers of essential services, with the resources needed to effectively carry out their tasks.
I salute you for your continuing contribution to the development of our beloved Antigua and Barbuda.
I salute you for your heroic contributions to our communities and our country.
I salute those who have been publicly applauded, as well as those who remain our unsung heroes.
I salute our heroes who have gone before us.
I salute the father of our nation, the late Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Sr. who through his work and vision for Antigua and Barbuda has earned him the respect of being the most important historical figure in the 300 and more years of Antigua and Barbuda’s history.
Where the educated and the professional joined with the planters, V.C. Bird dared to take up the people's cause to overthrow colonial oppression. He was a knight in freedom's cause. Antigua & Barbuda's foremost.
I also salute our other National Heroes who are deservedly honored today and have earned the right to be given the Most Exalted Order of National Hero.
I salute Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards – a True National Hero of Antigua and Barbuda
I salute Prince Klass known as King Court – A true National Hero of Antigua and Barbuda
I salute Miss Nellie Robinson – a true National Hero of Antigua and Barbuda
I salute Sir Sydney Walling and Sir Reginald Samuel and all the other deserving Antiguans and Barbudans who have been honoured.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
My government has transformed the economic and social landscape of this country.
But there is still much work to be done.
We have encountered challenges with our Road construction and airport rehabilitation programmes. We however have cleared those hurdles and very shortly work will commence in earnest.
We also face the challenges of World Cup Cricket 2007 which will require all of our energies and goodwill. We thank all those who have already put their shoulders to the wheel.
Already, preparations for this momentous event have resulted in the development of $194 million dollars in development projects under the Cricket World Cup Projects Incentives Act.
Seventy-four businesses have received tax waivers and other benefits under the special legislation.
The 74 business ventures approved under the CWC Projects (Incentives) Act are mostly related to accommodations. One thousand and sixteen rooms would be added to the existing room stock of 3,300 through this initiative, putting the government well on its way to meeting the medium term goal of having 6,000 hotel rooms available by 2009.
Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:
My government today renews its commitment to continue empowering our people. We renew our commitment to building a nation brave and free.
We renew our commitment to building a nation where each of us endeavor, all of us achieve.
May we all heed the call to join in the battle as we develop this fair land of ours.
Let us work to build one another, together.
Let us move forward as a one family embracing the future together.
May God Bless you and your loved ones.
May God continue to generously bless our beloved Antigua and Barbuda. Happy 25th Independence Anniversary.
