And it came to pass, Sherfield 

“The tumult and the shouting dies/The captains and the kings depart….”

Rudyard Kipling penned these lines in a poem titled "Recessional," for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebration, at a time when the British Empire was at the peak of its power and pride – as a prayer, as a warning that all earthly empires rise and fall just like those of biblical days.

To me, it’s not a little ironic that, two days after Antigua and Barbuda puffed up its chest and patted itself on the back for retrofitting a cinema into a concert hall, confirmation comes that our Citizenship by Investment Programme may very well be “suspended” right after the captains of industry and the great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria depart this place.

I’ve been saying to anybody who would pay attention: It’s not CHOGM I’m worried about; it’s what comes after: You know, the big headache the morning after the night of the big celebration... . 

I’ve also publicly said, and written, that the prime minister’s initial “flourish” – his unequivocal statement that the CIP will continue regardless of the European Union’s request/demand that it be phased out – amounted to nothing more than “fat chat,” as he, himself, used to describe these things. After all, who is going to waste good money buying a passport that can’t take them where they need to go?  Even the most shady characters know better than to fling bad money after bad.

With navel-string and receipts-to-show citizens effectively banned since January 2026, my current concern is not about when Antigua and Barbuda will “get back US visa access.” My headache is how we’re going to live when the CIP Unit puts shutters on its house.  Because the hurricane to come is not going to be easy.

It was this year – this 2026, pre-April 30 – that then MP Sherfield Bowen told the Parliament and all who could understand (not just hear) that the National Budget was “dressed up” where the CIP was concerned. He said this year’s projected income had been far overstated and that even the previous year’s projections had fallen far short. 

Therefore, he warned, the Browne Administration was relying heavily on TAXES to fill the revenue gap. As the Bible would say, “And it came to pass….”

But what’s going to happen before this crisis passes?  Because November 12 is three weeks away and we’ve just taken on – what? – an advance of $87 million with another massive loan/line-of-credit commitment to follow. 

Where’s the money for repayment to come from when, already, we’re paying 40% more for vehicle-licensing fees; $18 a gallon for gas; overall 7% more in inflation; and only Jesus knows how much for CHOGM?? Can the citizen struggling to buy groceries really afford any further increase in taxes?  Look! We may have to sell the Deluxe just to repay the bank!

Just last week I learned that a fairly popular restaurant is closing its doors – “suspending operations,” one might say – because the current economy can’t support the business. It “shivered my heart,” because every time I drive along Friars Hill Road and see the massive amount of commercial space under construction. I worry that folks haven’t been reading the tea leaves. After all, I don’t want to believe the industry is simply laundering money, as financial sources have intimated – because that’s a whole other stain on our flag.

But, really, what’s going to happen after CHOGM has packed up and moved on? Where will this so-called suspension of the CIP leave Social Security pensioners whom it used to bail out in lieu of Government’s monthly contributions? Where will it leave the public services to which taxpayers are entitled: education, healthcare, infrastructure? 

Will the ABST-reduction weekend in December be honoured? Eh-eh! And what will happen to the “One Nation Concert” in January? After all, the finance minister can’t hang government pensioners out to dry simply so he can put on his fake dreads and pappyshow himself on stage again….

I’d like to chuckle, at least, and say, “Me min warn you,” but I’m worried. I truly am. There’s so much need, so much hardship, so much pain already in this country.  And so much of it could have been avoided. 

But maybe the victims won’t notice.  After all, in the absence of good governance, public services, and economic solutions, incompetent leaders have traditionally placated the people with bread and circuses. We saw it at play to great effect before April this year and, now, better yet, we have a spanking new performing arts centre in which to stage the circus.

I know, reading this, that the cynical and the ashamed will argue that things would have gone no differently had the United Progressive Party been in office. Well, they’re dead wrong! The CIP was designed by the UPP with transparency, accountability, and guard rails in place and they would have remained in place.

It is neither accidental nor incidental that Canada did not cancel visa-free access under the UPP … but acted swiftly when the rot began under the Browne Administration. This “suspension” was bound to happen. They only schemed how not to make it happen until after they’d received the CHOGM accolades.

The tumult and the shouting will die; the captains and the king will depart.  And then what?