St. Johns, Antigua: February 22, 2010 …The Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing & the Environment through the Sustainable Island Resource Management Mechanism (SIRMM), will be hosting a Visioning Consultation, on Friday 26th February, 2010 at the Multipurpose Cultural Centre, beginning at 8 a.m. with specific focus on issues relating Natural Land, Marine Resources, the Environment, Physical Development Infrastructure and Services.

The exercise, seeks to discuss issues relating to land development and land use in the state of Antigua and Barbuda.

Key stakeholders from Government agencies, private enterprises, professional associations and community groups, are among the target audiences that will present to share ideas and proposals for the formulation of a National Physical Development Plan (NPDP), and Land Use Policy.

This, Visioning Consultation, is the continuation of a process that began, last year August, when, government officials, including, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Baldwin Spencer and Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing & the Environment Hilson Baptiste, launched the process to review and update the NPDP, as mandated under the Physical Planning Act 2003.

To this end, the Core Zoning Plan Committee continues to receive inputs from consultants on various levels, internationally, regionally and local, to facilitate and enhance of the Zoning Plan and further update of the NPDF.

Baptiste meanwhile, has called, for stakeholders to be instrumental to move the process of the advancing the National Physical Development.

With the stakeholders’, input, the minister said, “The vision of all Antiguans & Barbudans will be represented.”

Baptiste said, “I do believe that the establishment of a National Physical Development Plan will serve to help us as a nation to plan better for the future and reduce conflicts regarding land use and development.”

The minister added that “Land is a precious commodity to all Antiguans and Barbudans and therefore it is important that we all get involved in discussions that will help us to formulate polices that will affect us for generations to come.”

For further information please contact the SIRMM, Project Co-ordinator of Forestry Ruleta Comarcho at 268 -720 -5510.