InteresteD, stop your crying now! If you are not the MP or his kept-woman then what are you? Obviously, you have some "infatuation" with the MP if you are still "buzzing" around this "stale-bread" article! While everyone has moved on to other stories, you are still holding on to the Joker's robe like a "craze" fan or supporter! I am worried about your constant desire to always stay-back in these articles with the MP, and, not pick-up yourself and get off your "obssession for a man, who likes to "dodge" his constituents and "waste" money! They are other "fishes" in the sea! Get over it!

Well Maginley is telling everyone that he doesn't want to run again in the next Elections...may be he is starting to put country first after all?

Think he will be able to defy PM BS's boss (the Shaolin Master)?

hmmm...so now I am the Minister or a keep woman!......... so as soon as the facts prove you wrong it's back to name calling.......g ood points! I did not vote for the member from rural north ever so that should clear that up. Now you are agreeing that the numbers are up......but.... there is always a but eh?.........the tourism receipts are down? So now we blame the Minister for people not spending as much as before? Well let's see..........le t's go to Ministry of Finance and see if our revenue from tourism has grown.......may be I will call Maginley and the Minister of Finance and ask them........one ofvthem will be on Observer sometime in the future

-"and the question is - what the country is accomplishing from these studies?" - NOTHING!

Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock. Ah Tenman! Go Easy! Be Charitable! The Hon Minister is like all other Ministers of Us.Quote:

"There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet." William F. Halsey

Why do you like Feste torment the Good Hon Minister as Malvolio, the Steward, with the cry that:Quote:

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Shakespeare - Twelfth Night or What You Will.

You may be privy to other juicy tidbits but us mere voices in the wilderness and other sorry technology luddites are guided by your analysis that: Quote:

According to InteresteD, our tourism numbers are increasing, yet the facts show our GDP declining with this year probably making it four years in a row. Clearly the growth that InteresteD described and has been pointing to since at least last year, is actually cancer.

or more importantly that Tourism Revenues have declined as in all other Caricom SIDS. Your research and analysis should remain unsullied by the personal. Go Well! Much Respect!

annoyed i see you have peeped behind the curtain. The whole wording of his comments sound like MP Maginley. The habit of crying and then throwing stones when you least expect it, are seen in his comments. The poster is either the MP or someone who spends a lot of time with him, perhaps a kept woman. According to InteresteD, our tourism numbers are increasing, yet the facts show our GDP declining with this year probably making it four years in a row. Clearly the growth that InteresteD described and has been pointing to since at least last year, is actually cancer.
..

Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock. Eliminate SJDC. Create Municipality of St. John's. The Ministry has Bureaucrats and Technocrats (BT). The Scribe suggests that SJDC and possibly the BT's made recommendations to the Hon Min. Some Stakeholders may have also done so. The Reds have also voiced their opinions and possible directions. That the Hon Min. acted is appreciated.
Fact: A&B lacks the Human Capacity to effect the Study, Planning, Design, Financing, Engineering, Technology and Development, when packaged as one full service and turnkey project.
Why no Public Request for Proposals of discrete elements given previous work? This would have not only be Transparent but would also provide accountability. The Public and "Bewildered Electorate" would have been onside even though there would of necessity be questions as to Priorities given the spate of other Tourism Studies which may be valid.
Mr. Minister, your actions suggest that the Human Capacity is limited in A&B. You may be correct. Open the Process and be Positive. This "mere voice in the wilderness" saw your ethical dilemma and provided a brief on GDD.
Heaven Help The Nation Of Antigua & Barbuda.

Interested Maginly stop moaning and crying, just accept you're failur and resign.

so some of you are challenging me to find the truth! Well here goes....who is this group that has 'written'? Where is the document? Everton? Also it is clear that Nathan Dundas is on board with the Minister as he was part of the decision making.....is,h e now a stooge also? And Osbert Frederick is calling people names....really .....how many times has he won? While you condemn the Minister....Tou rism arrivals are up, cruise arrivals are up, yachting arrivals are up.......and the simplicity of your suggestions shows that you have no grasp of what is really happening.....M r. Expert how deep,is the port now and to what depth should the port be? How wide is the turning basin? Again...when the Minister uses budgeted funds you criticize ....when he uses the recommendations of the technicians, in this case St. Johns. Development Corporation...y ou critize him...when he goes on his own you critize ........so Minister keep,doing...th e numbers are proving you right again.....and the cost of the Tourism summit and the studies cost closer to $20,000US not the $75,000 that you are claiming....wro ngmin factmagain

...Quote:

most importantly, to create high financial returns for our investors and partners. In addition, Global Destinations plans and markets destinations to the cruise industry and the travel agent community. Global actively promotes and represents ports in their pursuit of cruise line ship calls, and creates strategic marketing programs, collateral materials and creative approaches to "brand the destination". Global Destinations provide Comprehensive Business Planning, including Financial Feasibility & Investment Analysis and deal structure advisement, on select projects in the cruise and hotel industries. Looking forward, Global Destinations Development will continue to explore opportunities within the Caribbean, Florida, and internationally, where we seek the ability to create unique products and generate high financial returns. Through its numerous relationships and experience, Global Destinations is in the unique position of working closely with major cruise line companies and executives to create strategic visions and increased operating profits from shoreside assets.

"The Medium is The Massage!"
Heaven Help the Nation of Antigua & Barbuda.

Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock. It is suggested that you take a page from the Hon Dr. Min Of Ed, Hon. Dr. Min of Sec. and Hon Min. of Fin who have mastered the Medium is The Massage.
It is well known that OBMI have done a study for development of the St. John's Waterfront many moons ago.
It is also known and can be found on the web, that RCL has done a preliminary study complete with schematic design development for areas on the waterfront at the Cruise Ship Piers toward** and more importantanly for GoAB, which was put into limbo, the Development of Fort James and the Basin north of Rat Island.
Full disclosure, transparency and a move towards accountability would have been helpful to your efforts.
Here is some helpfull info: Quote:

Global Destinations Development, LLC is a development and consulting company created to capitalize on the development of port destinations and shoreside real estate in the burgeoning cruise tourism and resort hotel markets. Global Destinations' vision is to create exciting new tourism products throughout the Caribbean, and select destinations, to the delight of our guests...

Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock. Many people have moved from indifference before the "stakeholders' Document" arrived to this news portal stating: Quote:

“At a time when the people and Government of Antigua & Barbuda are facing new tax measures, and the tourism season is coming to an end with little or few activities taking place to bolster the economy, it is indeed incredulous that the Ministry of Tourism has seen fit to do what can only be determined as a waste of money.”

to a greater understanding and openness towards this "mere voice in the wilderness" repeated questions of numerous external consultancies on tourism studies when all about were silent. Spitballs were spewed at this commenter for describing one socalled Caricom entity as being headquarted in the North Atlantic.
The Buck stops with the Hon Min Of Tourism. Where are his advisers - the PS, Ministry Bureaucrats & Technocrats? They must not be let off the hook. The same position & conditional behaviour seems to be the Public's response towards the Engineers at APUA. Be reminded of Judge Mario Michel and his sentence of the Bureaucrat. Heaven help The Nation of Antigua & Barbuda.

There seems to be a whole lot of studying going on I just hope they pass the exam.

Who is going to stop this madness, where is dr. BS.

Another Ministry gorn agwasa! John has buried another Ministry in the UPP!

Baldwin can't touch David's boy!

I propose we commission a study on the effectiveness and efficiency of our gov't. I think the citizens would feel much better if the money was spent on transparency and accountability; producing answers to the WPP, and the numerous allegations of corruption.

there are soo many ways we can generate money we have the local pineapple there not doing naything with it instead of focusing on tourism alone how about agriculture... everything for antigua is 365 beaches smfh we need to come better than that ....... the time they take to hire over seas ppl to do a job how about hire our own as me mother just say u dance a yard before u dance aboard....... start to encourage ppl to produce locals things and encourage ppl to buy them and let the money circulate in the economy and not go out the economy

Mr.Minister, the only study u need to undertake is a study of your vision!! it is quite obvious that you are failing to see anything worthwhile in Antigua...EVERY THING is failing and yet YOU and your phoney 'study' will do nothing to bolster an already failing Tourism industry. Maybe wee need to do like Amsterdam and promote one of our industries..... MARIJUANA....we ed siezed can be used for resale to tourists.

Vicky, not only are there qualified persons in A & B who can do the job, but they would probably charge a lot less and the money would stay here and go right back into the local economy; foreign entities take the money back to their countries of origin. Every once in a while, especially in June, we read of nationals who have graduated from universities abroad and are returning home, sometimes with no employment opportunities. Why not post the job openings with the Department of labour, or advertise in the print media with a specific area of expertise and have people apply for the positions? Considering the current state of the economy, it is ludicrous the way tax dollars are being spent in A & B. People first! Remember that mantra?

The last time I said the MP is "wasting" monies on consultants (we hab dem ya), I was reminded by his PRO, InteresteD, that I have "facts" all wrong because the UK consultant company that I mentioned is based in TnT and not UK (does it really matter where the company is located when we are paying them for work that doesn't help or do little to increase our brand?). Perhaps, InteresteD, can call the office and find out how much the MP has wasteD? We need to stop protecting "incompetence" and really get the MP and those tourism officials to use our monies "wisely" to improve our tourism brand, which will "benefit" all stakeholders!

Commissioning "a study" is a ploy politicians revert to when they don't know what else to do.
So now I guess we are going to "study" tourism to death.

MP Maginley have been "wasting money" ever since he got into government, especially, with our tourism product! He is "clueless" and an "out-dated" thinker! I am glad to see "reasonable" shareholders see what myself and others have been saying all along! The nation is bleeding but the Joker wants to continue wasting tax payers money on hiring consultants after consultants, which has not "benefitted" the country! That, I will agree is blatantly "incredulous!"

i find it ridiculous to be spending that amount of money on a foreign entity when there are qualified persons here in antigua who can do the same thing. it is ironic when you go to the said ministry they are telling there are no vacancies, yet they can hire outside

We all know that this Minister is a dunce. He has proven it over and over but as long as his brother in law(Ambassador David) remains the De Facto Prime Minister, he will always be a powerful Minister. At the end of the year, the Ambassador will pay LMR to erect a sign saying that this incompetent Minister was the best for the year.

You got people in power that don't have the appitude to do the work themselves, so they spin studdies to cover their lack of Crainium matter.

What you expect when you put a clown to run anything? InteresteD may find an excuse for this latest comedic act!

After eight years...more costly studies? You want advise for free? Here goes:

1) Replace the Minister (Dundas would be much better)

2) Dredge the Harbour - it is estimated we'll lose about fifty large ships over the next year due to this problem

3) Lower the Electric cost so hotels and other businesses can be more competitive (start with the Wadali Power Plant inquiry)

4) Create a short term, medium term and long term plan for tourism in Antigua and Barbuda

5) Attract a top name brand Hotel chain to be the flagship of our industry

6) Make the Nelson's Dockyard a Duty Free port to encourage more yachts to visit and lay over and re-provision here

I can offer more (all for free) and i born and raise here! But then again I guess those factors make my advice not worthy of you guys? So we'll spend hundreds of thousands more over the next two years to make you guys sound busy?

What else can you expect from a fellow who is as shallow as a plate; and I mean one that cannot hold soup. This is what we get when we put square pegs in eound holes. Heaven help us!

Ministry of Tourism of wasting money....They boss is JM what else you expect?

JM nah study at school, so he musta tink that with all these "studies" he will finally get educated...wha loss what a joke.