Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Prime Minister Gaston Browne says over the next two years his administration will create 5,000 new jobs in addition to the more than 3,000 ones it has created since coming to office two years ago.
In his Independence address to the nation on Monday, Browne said his government, which came to office in June 2014, had been able to reduce unemployment significantly and the “proof of the number of jobs is measured by the number of additional contributors to the Social Security and Medical Benefits schemes”.
He told the nation celebrating its 35th year of political independence from Britain, that a number of projects will be undertaken over the next two years including the creation of 500 jobs next year at the Expert Global Solutions, a call centre that will also partner with Amazon (a publicly traded conglomerate) and the government to construct a new training facility at the Five Islands Campus.
“The US$25 million investment by Call Centre Services, in a new multi-story facility at Woods will create another 800 jobs. Construction of this facility has commenced and it will provide up to 150 construction jobs,” Browne said, adding that within the next few weeks, housing construction at the Paynters and Cooks housing sites will be scaled-up, causing openings for new employment;
“In 2017, my government will spend in excess of EC$100 million (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) in the repair and expansion of our decrepit roads, curbs and drains, including, in the nation’s capital where the infrastructure is dilapidated and unwholesome. “
Browne said that the programme will also generate a few hundred jobs and that “several thousand jobs will be created from new hotel investment projects, including US$100 million Valley Church Resort in which our Government will be investing up to US$30 million”.