Cabinet meeting put back to Thursday, for reasons not stated; plans for fencing Sir Novelle Richards Academy on the agenda
The customary Wednesday meeting of the executive arm of Government will not take place today.
According to a notice from Chief of Staff Ambassador Lionel Hurst, Cabinet will meet tomorrow, Thursday, April 13, instead. No reason was given for the postponement of the session.
One of the pressing matters slated to be addressed in Cabinet this week is the construction of a fence at the Sir Novelle Richards Academy – which is one of the outstanding matters for which the Antigua & Barbuda Union of Teachers is agitating.
A meeting with Cabinet officials, union representatives, and Lands and Survey Department officials, held this week, was aimed at finalizing the construction plans.
The fence, which is estimated to cost $300,000, was previously approved under the Caribbean Development Bank’s Third Basic Project for Education, the Executive has confirmed.
However, it is not known whether any funds have actually been disbursed; nor was the project mentioned by the Minister of Finance in the Budget Presentation.
It is hoped that such questions will be answered at the post-Cabinet press briefing, which, this week, will be held on Friday, April 14.
In the meantime, the Teachers Union has called an extraordinary general meeting of its membership for Thursday morning, April 13, at its headquarters.
This comes after the Ministry of Education postponed the opening of school from Tuesday, April 11, to Monday, April 17, in an attempt to avert the Union’s planned industrial action for this week.
