标签： Antigua and Barbuda

Across the country, annual Centenarian Week celebrations have drawn national attention to the remarkable stories of people who have lived for more than a century, and this year’s agenda included a special, heartfelt visit from the nation’s Governor General to meet the oldest centenarians in the country.

Centenarian Week was created to recognize the wisdom, resilience, and lifelong experiences of adults who have reached the 100-year milestone, many of whom have lived through dramatic historical shifts, from world wars to the digital revolution. The event series fosters intergenerational connection and highlights the unique perspectives that long-lived citizens bring to national identity.

During the visit, the Governor General met one-on-one with several of the oldest participating centenarians, listening to their personal anecdotes, exchanging gifts, and formally recognizing their contributions to their communities over decades of life. Many of the centenarians shared small, vivid memories of everyday life a century ago, offering attendees and organizers a rare, intimate window into the past that cannot be found in history textbooks.

Community organizers noted that the Governor General’s visit brought unprecedented visibility to Centenarian Week, boosting public interest in celebrating aging and honoring the oldest members of society. Local leaders added that the event also sparks important conversations about senior care, quality of life for aging adults, and the value of retaining intergenerational bonds in modern communities.

The visit wrapped up with a group reception, where the Governor General delivered a short address emphasizing that centenarians are a foundational part of the nation’s social fabric, and that their legacy of perseverance offers critical lessons for younger generations navigating uncertainty today. Organizers say they expect the increased attention from this year’s visit to help expand Centenarian Week programming and outreach in communities across the nation for 2025 and beyond.

A key public employment service facility is set to change its address in the near future, bringing adjustments to how residents access career support services. Starting June 15, 2026, the One Stop Employment Centre (OSEC) will operate from a temporary home at the Labour Department Headquarters, located at the intersection of Thames and Long Streets. The planned relocation was first announced to the public via an official statement released by the Labour Department this past Tuesday.

According to department representatives, the move is not a permanent rearrangement, but a required step to carry out much-needed structural and systems maintenance at OSEC’s current facility. The aging of the current building’s infrastructure has created a need for targeted upgrades that can only be completed safely if the centre’s daily operations are moved off-site. To ensure that the public does not face gaps in critical employment support, all of OSEC’s regular services will remain fully operational throughout the maintenance period, based out of the ground floor of the Labour Department’s central headquarters.

Throughout the duration of the temporary relocation, the Labour Department has advised all residents to direct all in-person visits and official correspondence to the new headquarters address. No walk-ins or mail will be accepted at the original OSEC location after the move takes effect next year. The department extended a formal apology for any disruptions or accessibility changes that the relocation may cause for service users, and expressed sincere gratitude to the public for their patience, cooperation and understanding as the necessary upgrade work proceeds. A timeline for OSEC’s return to its original location has not yet been released, with the department noting that further updates will be shared once maintenance is completed.

The Ministry of Works of Antigua and Barbuda has issued a public advisory announcing upcoming major infrastructure improvements along a key stretch of All Saints Road, running between the Buckley Line Roundabout and Herberts Junction.

As part of the national All Saints Road Project led by the government, a fully managed traffic detour will go into effect starting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, and will remain in place until 7:00 a.m. the following morning. The detour plan has been designed for both outbound and inbound commuters, with clearly marked directional signage posted along the entire route to guide drivers to rejoin All Saints Road after navigating the work zone. Notably, some segments of the detour route are designated as temporary one-way traffic zones, with these boundaries clearly marked on official project maps available for download.

Trained flag persons will be stationed at key points throughout the detour to facilitate steady traffic flow and assist drivers with navigation. Local residents living adjacent to the work site will retain full access to their properties, and all commercial businesses operating along the affected stretch of road will remain open for normal business during the works.

Officials have reminded all motorists to exercise extra caution when traveling near the work zone, as heavy construction equipment will be operating in close proximity to active traffic lanes. As delays are expected during the overnight work window, community stakeholders and daily commuters are encouraged to adjust their travel itineraries in advance to account for the temporary route changes.

Members of the public with questions about the roadwork or detour plan can direct inquiries to the Project Implementation Management Unit by phone at 562-9173.

Infrastructure development across Antigua and Barbuda is getting a targeted upgrade, as the country’s Ministry of Works has rolled out a fleet of smaller concrete trucks to solve a long-standing logistical challenge: accessing tight, confined roadwork sites that larger delivery vehicles cannot navigate.

Works Minister Maria Vanessa Browne confirmed that the compact trucks have already entered active service, delivering pre-mixed concrete to project sites that were previously inaccessible to standard-sized vehicles due to severe space constraints. Unlike their larger counterparts, these downsized trucks can easily maneuver through narrow pathways and cramped work zones, opening up new possibilities for public infrastructure upgrades that were stalled by access barriers.

To date, the new fleet has been deployed primarily to civil works projects focused on pedestrian and drainage infrastructure, including new sidewalk construction, curb installation, and storm drain upgrades. In these types of projects, work is often carried out along narrow existing right-of-ways or densely developed residential areas, where large vehicles simply cannot position themselves to unload materials. The smaller footprint of the new trucks eliminates this bottleneck, allowing construction crews to work more consistently and cut down on delays caused by the need to manually transport concrete over long distances from drop-off points further away.

Ministry officials noted that the addition of these specialized trucks will bring greater flexibility to infrastructure works across the twin-island nation, supporting the government’s ongoing national infrastructure improvement agenda. By removing access limitations that previously slowed or prevented work on tight-access sites, the new fleet is expected to speed up project delivery, expand the scope of public works that can be completed, and ultimately deliver better connected, more functional public infrastructure to communities across Antigua and Barbuda.

As Antigua and Barbuda prepares to observe its annual Centenarians Week in 2026, the country’s top official for social and urban policy has issued a heartfelt call for all residents to lift up and celebrate the nation’s centenarians, framing these 100-year-old citizens as irreplaceable national treasures defined by wisdom, hard-won resilience and decades of lived experience.

In her official address marking the launch of Centenarians Week 2026, Minister of Social and Urban Transformation Kiz Johnson emphasized that the annual observance serves a dual purpose: beyond celebrating the remarkable milestone of living a century, it also offers a moment to recognize the vast network of people that support centenarians across the country. This includes family members, full-time and informal caregivers, frontline healthcare workers, and local community organizations that dedicate time and resources to older citizens, Johnson noted.

Johnson pointed to the outsized, often uncelebrated contributions centenarians have made to the growth and development of Antigua and Barbuda’s local communities and the nation as a whole. From building local economies through decades of work to raising the next generation of leaders and prioritizing collective community well-being, these elders made intentional sacrifices that laid the foundational framework modern Antigua and Barbuda is built on, Johnson explained. “Through their work, sacrifice, family, leadership, and commitment to community life, they have helped lay the foundation upon which subsequent generations continue to build,” she said in her address.

The minister went on to reaffirm her ministry’s ongoing commitment to building neighborhoods and communities across the country that are inclusive, physically accessible, and actively supportive of all older residents. Too often, older citizens are pushed to the margins of public life, Johnson said, reinforcing the need for ongoing work to create spaces where older people can stay connected to their communities, remain socially engaged, and feel the respect and appreciation they deserve as core members of Antiguan and Barbudan society. “We must continue to foster environments where seniors remain connected, engaged, respected, and valued members of our society,” she stated.

A key priority highlighted in Johnson’s message is expanding opportunities for intergenerational connection between young people and the nation’s centenarians. Young people growing up in a time of rapid social, economic and technological change stand to gain invaluable perspective from those who have navigated 100 years of global and local transformation, Johnson explained. She added that the cumulative wisdom of the country’s oldest citizens remains one of Antigua and Barbuda’s most underrecognized, yet most valuable, national resources.

Closing her address, Johnson extended formal congratulations to all centenarians across Antigua and Barbuda, as well as their loved ones, and offered her wishes for a warm, joyful, and meaningful 2026 Centenarians Week celebration.