The Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority (ABIA) recently conducted the first scheduled six-month review of the Construct Antigua Barbuda Initiative, which revealed that over M in projects were received.
Over 90 percent of applicants were 35 or younger. Executive Director of ABIA Lestroy Samuel noted that “in spite of the good results thus far, we firmly believe there is an opportunity to further simplify the process and make the cost of home ownership even lower and include more construction types”.
CABI will therefore now be extended to include renovations as well as expansions. The programme also applies to Antiguans & Barbudans living overseas.
The cost of building materials under the programme will also be reduced significantly. To simplify the process, the policy now enables homeowners to purchase building materials free of Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) and the Revenue Recovery Charge (RRC), which replaces the initial duty free policy.
In addition, when the discounts offered by CABI registered hardware suppliers is added, the price of building materials would be reduced by well over 25 percent.
To continue the promotion of this beneficial initiative, the ABIA will be hosting a Construct Antigua Barbuda Initiative (CABI) Symposium on April 11 at 4:30 pm at the Multi-Purpose Centre.
This CABI symposium will bring together in partnership all the stakeholders to include homeowners, contractors, bankers, hardware store owners, aggregate suppliers, insurance representatives and other service providers.
The general public is invited to attend. Our objectives are to inform the public, gather suggestions and concerns and to answer questions pertaining to CABI.
CABI was launched by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in July 2011, and is expected to run for 18 months, with reviews every six months. The initiative is intended to stimulate the construction sector by reducing the cost of home ownership through government incentives and private sector participation.
The ABYWA issued the following statement after the meeting.
