ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Oct 26, CMC -Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne is predicting an economic spin-off for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country as it prepares to host thousands of delegates for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that gets underway here on November 1.
Browne, speaking on his weekly radio programme told listeners that the four day event, which will also be attended by Britain’s King Charles, will have a long lasting effect on the island.
“If you assume that we attract 6,000 visitors for CHOGM and they spend an average of US$1000 each you are looking at six million US dollars of economic activity generated in the country.
“Of that amount 20 per cent goes to the government for taxes. So I want our people to understand that there will be a significant economic benefit for the country, other than the publicity which is something we could not pay for,” Browne said.
He said in addition to the economic activity and the accompanying publicity, Antigua and Barbuda will benefit from a list of sizeable donations which the government has received from other friendly governments and institutions that go towards off-setting the cost of hosting the event.
“The government of India donated one million US dollars to assist the government in purchasing additional motor vehicles to help transport the anticipated six thousand plus delegates.
“We have had other entities, SpaceX, the Elon Musk company, has given us about one million US dollars in value, including the donation of a Cyber-truck EV for the use by the prime minister,” Browne said, adding that other donations have come from the Sustainable Management Initiative (SMI) which has also made available one million US dollars which goes towards covering some of the costs associated with the One Commonwealth Night, the concert slated for November 2, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Prime Minister Browne said that of the other major sponsors include the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and others who have donated up to 100,000 British Pounds (GPB) towards offsetting the cost of hosting the conference.
“This will be a net gain for the people of Antigua and Barbuda; most of our funds went into infrastructural development and the roads had to be fixed anyway. The roads in St. John’s, the road through Royals leading to Hodges Bay, that too had to be fixed and these will last for decades.
“So overall, I would say the economic value of CHOGM will be such that it would be a net benfit for the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” Prime MInister Browne said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Browne says he will be holding talks with officials from the United Kingdom Foreign Minister Ed Miliband on Monday, during which he will make the case that the time has come for there be an open discussion on the issue of reparation.
Browne told radio listeners that he had raised the issue privately with the UK government and with King Charles himself.
“We have said to them that we will be a very gracious host on the issue of reparation; however, like the King himself has indicated, we feel that the time has come for us to discuss the issue of reparation in a very serious way,” he said.
Prime Minister Browne said that what he wants to be hammered out here during the CHOGOM 26, is a ‘framework’ for the discussion going forward, indicating also that he believes strongly in the issue of reparation and feels that there ought to be a determination on the part of the UK and other European powers to come to a settlement with countries such as Antigua and Barbuda and the rest of the Caribbean which still bear the stains of the prolonged enslavement and colonisation of Africans here in the Americas.
“What we want to have is a framework where we can have an apology as well as investments in areas such as education and healthcare etc. There ought to be some sort of reparatory justice for the off-springs of the people who were enslaved and dehumanized for centuries as well as for the genocide of the native peoples of the region,” Browne said.
He told the programme that there are ongoing talks between himself and the UK prime minister on this issue and he is of the view that something ‘positive’ may likely to come out of these talks.
“When he gets here, we will have a bilateral to put together a framework on how we can hammer out this issue in a non-contentious and mature manner. We are not ‘sweeping the issue under the table’, but at the same time we don’t want the issue to divide us.
“You would note that with the many international issues in the world around us, the Commonwealth needs to work together to resolve these sensitive issues in a mature manner,” Browne told radio listeners.
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