Willoughby Bay project is back on the cards via ambassador to Lebanon and CIP sales, Cabinet Notes say 

The Cabinet has made another announcement about the future of the stalled
Willoughby Bay project, after reportedly inviting Antigua and Barbuda’s
ambassador to Lebanon to speak about proposed investment in the area.

During the sitting on April 17, the ambassador reportedly told the Executive
he is “estimating that on the real estate that will likely be assigned, he can
build 90 villas for sale to potential (Citizenship by Investment) applicants.”
 
The Cabinet Notes say his model for development of the area is very much the
same as that used by a number of other investors, and the ambassador has
shown the capacity to deliver on his promises in the past.

Critics, meanwhile, tell REAL News they “beg to disagree.” They allege that
very few of these projects have gone beyond the “theory stage” and that some
of the investors brought to the Cabinet could “not stand the light of day” –
hence, the Administration’s dismal track record on investments.

The Notes remind the public that Willoughby Bay was identified as an area for
development in the post-COVID-19 period, with the expectation that it would
strengthen the economic recovery of Antigua and Barbuda from the pandemic.
 
According to the Cabinet, this ambition is beginning to take root, and the
investment to which the ambassador refers will generate more than $100
million worth of economic activity.
 
However, this project has been in the pipeline for over four years – having
first being announced in May 2020.
 
The initiative was spearheaded by a government-led committee headed
by Ambassador Daven Joseph, who, in August 2022, said that a number of
local investors were showing an interest in the opportunities presented by the
venture.
 
However, he indicated that they had expressed concerns about the lack of
infrastructure in the 3,000 acre location.
 
He said, then, that the Government was seeking to raise EC$100 million in
capital to address this issue through an infrastructural development fund.
Joseph said this was to ensure good infrastructure and development
components, “so that the value of the properties and what they are doing
would be commensurate with the type of environment that we are putting
the project in.”

But up to that time not one person had been employed following the much
touted project.

In November 2022, the former political leader of the United Progressive Party,
Harold Lovell, raised questions about the project, noting that it should
already have gotten off the ground at that time.