St John's, 23rd November 2009....Crime Stoppers Antigua officially launched on 6th November 2008 is now one year later, planning a Cocktail Party to celebrate its first anniversary and to bring together the community at large in support of this critical organization.

The street lighting project is running smoothly, according to the communications department within the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA). “To date, the project has been running according to schedule and the cables and foundation for the street lights have been laid in many areas,” said Corporate Communications Officer, Cathrona Samuel. Last December, APUA General Manager, Esworth Martin, along with representatives from the governments of Antigua & Barbuda and China, signed the final construction agreement, signaling the start of the installation of hundreds of street lights.

The Transportation sector and Safety and Security are issues which influence the quality of the product offerings and services of tourism destinations.

These two critical thematic issues were recently addressed at two (2) separate seminars hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and facilitated by a three-man team from the UK- based Federation of Tour Operators (FTO).

July 30, 2009….Findings from a National Survey on Drug Use among Secondary School Students in Antigua and Barbuda has been submitted to officials at the Substance Abuse Prevention Division (SAPD).

The survey, done in 2005 by the National Drug Council of Antigua and Barbuda, was conducted by administering a self report questionnaire to 2057 full time secondary school students in forms two, three, four, five and grade eight junior secondary school students in Antigua and Barbuda.

July 28, 2009… Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing &the Environment Hilson Baptiste said in order for the agricultural stations to effectively execute their mandate efforts must be made to secure the properties.

Baptiste made the remarks at Cades Bay Pineapple Station, during a field trip. The tour also went to Green Castle and Christian Valley.

The minister said, the area is being left opened to the public and was susceptible to vandalism and praedial larceny.

The Ministry of Tourism gets set to engage a wide cross-section of the country’s tourism stakeholders of both the public and private sectors in two training programmes. The one-day Transportation Seminar is scheduled for July 23rd, to be followed by a Safety & Security Seminar on July 24th. The seminars will be facilitated by Officials of the UK-based Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) and will take place at the Jolly Beach Resort.