Antigua and Barbuda’s government is moving forward with long-overdue upgrades to its public infrastructure, with dozens of public employees poised to get back to full-time in-office work in the coming weeks. The announcement was made during this week’s post-Cabinet briefing, where government officials shared new details on a nationwide audit of all state-owned buildings aimed at addressing longstanding occupancy and safety issues.
Maurice Merchant, the nation’s Director General of Communications, explained that unsafe or inadequate building conditions have disrupted public service operations for months, forcing hundreds of civil servants to adjust their work arrangements drastically. “You would be shocked – or maybe not even surprised – to learn that a large share of government workers have either been heading home by midday or working entirely remotely because of problems with their assigned office buildings,” Merchant told reporters during the briefing.
The Ministry of Works has been leading the multi-phase project, conducting full structural and safety assessments across all public facilities, completing targeted repairs, and compiling a final audit report to present to Cabinet for further action. Among the government departments most severely impacted by poor building conditions was the Department of Culture, which has operated entirely remotely for an extended period, according to Merchant.
After the government finished full retrofitting work on a newly designated building that has now passed all safety and occupancy inspections, more than 60 Department of Culture employees will be required to return to in-office work at the updated facility within the next few weeks. The retrofitting project addressed all structural, accessibility, and safety concerns to bring the building up to modern public sector occupancy standards.
In addition to the Department of Culture update, Cabinet also confirmed that the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s building has been declared safe for full occupancy after technical assessments from the Ministry of Works, clearing the way for that department’s staff to also return to normal in-office operations. As a long-term measure to maintain safe working conditions across all public buildings, the government has also created a dedicated deep-cleaning division within the Ministry of Works. This new unit will be responsible for regular inspections and maintenance to ensure all state-owned facilities continue to meet public health and occupancy safety standards moving forward.