Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda: No student will be without electricity at home

Antigua and Barbuda: The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda decided to guarantee that no student is without electricity at home. 

Those students whose homes have been disconnected from the electricity utilization will have special arrangements to guarantee that electricity is supplied to the house. 

All tenants and homeowners are encouraged to pay their APUA bills; those parents who have children enrolled in school and who have lost their electricity because of Covid-19 conditions, including unemployment, will have special arrangements made to secure the electricity required to power their Internet devices, and light to do homework at night.

It was brought to Cabinet’s attention that EC$67,000 were owed to the Caribbean Maritime Union (CMU) for tuition and other expenses incurred by Antiguan and Barbudan students who are studying at the Jamaican tertiary institution. Cabinet ordered the sum to be immediately paid, from the CIU, so that the students are allowed to enrol.

The Cabinet will also—next week—consider allowing more visitors to Elderly-care homes as more residents and citizens are vaccinated, especially elderly residents of these homes and those relatives who wish to visit them. The need for closer contact between the elderly and their family members is evident. The Cabinet agreed; those wishing to make visits are encouraged to take the vaccines offered.

-The Cabinet reviewed the four-day beach restriction, which was imposed over the Easter Holiday. Since there was appreciable compliance with the limits and no pieces of evidence of a spike in illness, hospitalization or death in the days following, the stage is set for deciding which policy will govern the upcoming holidays on Labour Day and Whit Monday. 

The Cabinet has signalled its willingness to relax the hours of restriction for beach use; however, the infection rate over the coming weeks will largely determine the policy. Reversing infection rates and eliminating the potential of a super-spreader-event is the primary purpose served by the restrictions.

-The Cabinet will also consider allowing bars to open for limited hours and for restaurants to serve guests for a more extended period each day. However, should they come, these relaxations will strictly enforce whatever conditions are imposed, supported by fines for those who disregard the rules. Achieving normalcy gradually is the object of the Cabinet policy-making, backed by science, not guesswork.

– On this day, Thursday 8th April 2021, an aircraft landed at the V.C. Bird Airport carrying 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines, obtained through the COVAX plan to which Antigua and Barbuda submitted. The Cabinet had chosen to vaccinate 27,000 adults in the first phase, which began from February 17 to March 31, 2021. 

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