PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. BALDWIN SPENCER
2006 NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS
TV/RADIO SIMULCAST
DECEMBER 31, 2005

Fellow Antiguans and Barbudans;
Residents and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:

As we move through the cycles of life here in Antigua and Barbuda, we are generally inclined to put the best face on the immediate past, and to put our trust in a better tomorrow.

As we reflect on the year just past, Antigua and Barbuda has much for which we must be thankful.

We are thankful for the time we were able to spend with loved ones; particularly in family reunions, and in other gatherings during the long Christmas weekend.

We are thankful for the abiding peace and security our country enjoyed during the holidays.

I commend our law enforcement officers for their contribution to our well-being during the Christmas season, and during this New Year's weekend.

We must be truly thankful that Antigua and Barbuda was spared the ravages of the savage 2005 hurricane season.

We have, nonetheless, shared the pain of victims of the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and that of the victims of other hurricanes that hit our sister Caribbean countries.

We must be thankful for the meaningful decrease in murders and in road fatalities, here in Antigua and Barbuda in 2005.

At the same time, we regret the untimely tragedies that have befallen some persons in our society.

One life taken by the hand of an assailant is one too many.

One life lost in a traffic mishap is one too many.

One defenseless woman, one innocent child, defiled by a sexual predator, is one too many, and is an outrage against every woman, and against all children.

Though we continue to enjoy relative public peace and safety and individual security, we mourn the rising incidence of violent crimes in sister Caribbean nations.

Because Antiguans and Barbudans are a devoutly religious people, we genuinely care about the problems that confront our West Indian brothers and sisters.

Where we are able, we will continue to extend support and assistance to neighbours in need.

While Antigua and Barbuda has been blessed with good fortune in certain respects, we continue to struggle to overcome daunting challenges, some inherited, and some incipient.

During the year just ended, Antigua and Barbuda succeeded in halting the economic slide.

We also succeeded in laying a foundation for a fresh economic start.

We are now poised for putting the country on a secure path to sustainable growth.

Significant credit for this must go to the Government's valued social partners including the trade union movement.

The trade union movement has a central role in maintaining the industrial peace and price stability.

Both are vital to our country's investment prospects and our economic advance.

Credit must go to certain sections of our business community for supporting the efforts and understanding the government's difficulties and constraints.

Special mention must be made of the numerous service and voluntary non-governmental organizations for contributing to the socio, economic, cultural and religious development of our country.

Great credit must go to the Minister of Finance and the Economy, Doctor, the Honourable Errol Cort for his focused and effective management of the reconstruction of the economy.

Doctor Cort readily acknowledges his good fortune in having a top-notch team of technocrats and advisors in the formulation and implementation of fiscal and economic policies that are working.

That team deserves our gratitude and commendations for designing an Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax, which embodies effective measures for reducing and stabilising the prices of a comprehensive range of essential goods.

Those essentials will all be price controlled. The Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax, the ABST, will replace a number of existing duties and taxes and will be of substantial benefit to the majority of the population.

In addition to this, many would say that the Ministry of Finance's smooth implementation of the Dollar Barrel programme is an unmatched benefit for those who need it most.

Others would see the Ministry of Education's management of the complementary school uniform programme for all primary and secondary school students as the most welcomed gift from the Sunshine Government.

Yet others await the introduction of the in-school nutritious meals programme, during the current school year, with the keenest anticipation.

For many of our young people, the inauguration of the $25Million institute of excellence, funded by the Stanford Group as part of the Alliance for Development through Education and Empowerment will bring exciting new opportunities.

A number of persons have already begun to reap the benefits from the ten million dollar Employment to Ownership programme, enjoying development funding for micro and small business enterprises.

For the Sunshine Government, 2006, as indeed every year, will be Youth Development Year.

In this context, I charge the Ministry of Youth Affairs to commission a National Task Force on Youth Development by the 31st of January.

This task force will comprise representatives of NGO's and other units of civil society.

The initial remit of the National Task Force on Youth Development will be the formulation of a programme to mobilise young people in wholesome and productive activities. The Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force will be among the bodies that will be called upon to provide direction and administer the Task Force on Youth Development.

We must invest in multiple ways, at multiple levels, in preparing our young people for productive lives as responsible citizens.

As part of the government's thrust to transform the nation into a knowledge based society, the completion of the National Library will receive high priority in 2006.

While Antigua and Barbuda is a full month into our Silver Jubilee Year of Independence, we are also at the threshold of the new calendar year.

2006 will be a year of opportunities as well as challenges for Antigua and Barbuda.

I expect the Independence Homecoming Festival to be of a character befitting the nation's 25th Anniversary.

I also expect the Community Pride Programme will come into its own in our 25th year.

The extensive programme of special events to commemorate Antigua and Barbuda's Silver Jubilee of Independence has the potential to attract large numbers of visitors, generate substantial economic activity, and capture global media attention.

I expect the Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Harold Lovell, to maximize the tourism potential of our Silver Jubilee Year events.

The Ministry of Tourism, together with our industry partners, is opening up new tourism options for Antigua and Barbuda.

We anticipate double-digit growth in cruise visitors in 2006.

We are enjoying a surge of new business from the United Sates.

We expect a similar surge of visitors from the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, once we negotiate direct flights from gateway cities on that coast.

All the indices are positive for impressive levels of new investment in tourism in Antigua and Barbuda; and for a veritable construction boom in the hospitality sector.

Despite the legal battles surrounding Guiana Island and the related mainland area, the Stanford Group is proceeding with new development on the North coast of Antigua and in the capital city, St. John's.

We must bring the Sunshine Government's two most important public sector investment projects, to date, on-stream in 2006.

I am confident that the Government of the People's Republic of China will complete the construction of the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on schedule and comfortably in time for Cricket World Cup 2007.

There is, however, cause for concern over the public works that related to that project.

This includes drainage, plumbing and conduits; and water and electricity supplies.

There is also decided cause for concern over the road enhancement programme that is a condition of hosting Cricket World Cup 2007.

These areas require sustained high intensity activity.

The country is especially vulnerable in its capacity to guarantee uninterrupted electricity supplies to meet the needs of World Cup Cricket 2007.

All of this means that in the coming months, the Ministry of Works will have to focus on bringing all related items, and particularly the national road system, to the standard required by Cricket World Cup organizers and the nation as a whole.

The initial phase of the development of VC Bird International Airport is also linked to Cricket World Cup 2007.

The airport master plan is completed and the project is ready for tendering.

Mr. Alan Stanford has affirmed his commitment to making lands required for airport development available to the Government.

Just as the Sunshine Government was beginning to think that there could be no more surprises in the aftermath of the ALP regime, a new shocker has hit us. In yet another revelation of the fiscal recklessness and the duplicity of the previous administration, it has now come to light that representations that user fees generated by VC Bird International were committed to the extent of $30Million were grossly misleading.

The Bird Administration had, in fact, committed airport revenues to debt servicing at five times that amount.

This means that revenue generated by our international airport is hypothecated to the tune of $150Million.

Any entity taking on the development of VC Bird International would eventually have been confronted with this reality.

It will call for considerable resourcefulness for us to develop alternative means of collateralising the funding for development of the airport. Fortunately, a number of international sources have confirmed their confidence in the Antigua and Barbuda Government and stand ready to negotiate the airport financing with us.

I have asked the Minister of Finance and the Economy to consider a Silver Jubilee Bond issue as one option.

In light of all of these challenges and developments, the Planning and Development divisions of the Ministry of Finance and Economy will ensure informed and cohesive planning, rational and balanced development, and tighter control and judicious commitment of the country's limited financial resources and fiscal options.

This therefore means that ministries, agencies of the Government and statutory authorities will be required to adhere rigidly to the policies, and guidelines defined by the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the commitment and disbursement of public funds. Another major priority in 2006 is the completion of construction of the Mount St. John Medical Centre and the formalizing of arrangements with a strategic partner for the operation of the facility. My government envisions this facility as a specialist centre attracting an international clientele.

I must however commend the Holberton Restoration Committee for the remarkable job they have been doing in transforming the Holberton Hospital.

Your generosity is a symbol to the entire nation that dedication, persistence and the desire to serve can produce positive results. All of Antigua and Barbuda salute and thank you.

The government is also committed to the Rationalisation of the public service.

Steps will be taken to strategically give effect to the commencement of the compassionate voluntary separation programme that offers public servants the responsibility to consolidate their entitlements, together with bonus payments for voluntary withdrawal from the public sector.

Fellow Antiguans and Barbudans; Residents and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:

All things considered, Antigua and Barbuda's perspectives for the New Year are positive.

The Sunshine Government continues to be committed to improving the lives of all Antiguans and Barbudans.

2006 and 2007 will bring economic opportunities and government incentives that will unleash the creativity, energy and entrepreneurship of the Antiguan and Barbudan people.

Within this framework, the rapid progress we are making in implementing the Government's Digital Agenda, will, within months, bring the world to the fingertips of the Antiguan and Barbudan people via the Worldwide Web.

This will translate to unlimited educational and economic opportunity for virtually every Antiguan and Barbuda, irrespective of age.

We are entering a whole new world, as we enter an exciting new year. There is a special place for all in that new world.

May God consecrate that special place for you and your loved ones.

May all of God's blessings be showered upon you. May God bless Antigua and Barbuda.

Happy New Year!