> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # More Than 400 Private Drivers Have Registered to Move 5,000 CHOGM Delegates in Antigua. The National School Bus System Has About Forty. - URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/chogm-2026-antigua-400-drivers-transport-procurement-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-27T10:59:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-27T10:59:09.000Z - Description: The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting opens in St John's on 1 November. More than 400 drivers have registered to move 5,000 delegates, against a national school bus fleet of about 40, and no transport occupational standard has been issued under the region's own qualification framework. - Author: Theon Alleyne - Tags: Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, transport, Road Safety, Business, Analysis **Quick summary:** The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting opens in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda on 1 November 2026 under the theme of accelerating partnerships and investment. More than 400 drivers had registered as of 25 October, the Antigua Observer reported, against a national school bus fleet of roughly 40 drivers. By LCN Business Desk A summit about investment runs on buses. Antigua and Barbuda has four days to move the delegates of a 56-nation meeting between a parade, four forums and an airport, and the capacity to do it is being bought from private operators. ## What is Antigua and Barbuda actually buying? Four days of transport capacity it does not own. More than 400 drivers have registered for the operation, the Antigua Observer reported on 25 October, following a town hall held on Wednesday 21 October at the John E. St Luce Finance and Conference Centre. The Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board is coordinating, and the transport committee is led by Dion Simmons. "We'll have 5,000 persons scattered throughout Antigua and we are charged with the responsibility of logistically planning and executing a transportation plan," Mr Simmons said, "to have these persons picked up and bused to their respective forums." The demand has a fixed start date and the vehicles belong to the operators. ## Why does a fleet of forty matter to a private operator? Because it sets the share of the work that has to be contracted out. | | Drivers | | ---------------------------------- | ----------------- | | Registered for the CHOGM operation | **More than 400** | | National School Bus System | **About 40** | | Estimated delegates to be moved | **5,000** | Source: the Antigua Observer, 25 October 2026, reporting the transport committee's figures. The state fleet covers under a tenth of the registered driver count, which is why the Observer records that additional private providers are essential rather than supplementary. ## What does the park-and-ride design tell a contractor? Where the vehicles have to be, and on which day. | Holding site | Serves | Date or scale | | --------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------- | | Powells playing field | Business forum at Sticky Wicket | About 1,000 participants | | Blizzard field | American University of Antigua | Through the meeting | | Piggotts, Seaview Farm, Parham | Parade, then One Commonwealth Night | 1 November, then 2 November | | Factory Cricket Grounds | Staff and volunteers | Through the meeting | | Airport kerbside | Arrivals and departures | At least three buses daily | | Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority car park | Overflow parking | Through the meeting | Source: as above. Each site pairs a holding area with a destination, which fixes route length, turnaround time and therefore how many vehicles a site consumes per hour. The business forum is the densest of the six, running the largest participant count out of a single field. ## What is the meeting itself convening on? Trade and investment, by its own statement of theme. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2026 runs from 1 to 4 November 2026 in St John's, and the Commonwealth Secretariat gives its theme as "Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth", bringing together leaders from 56 Commonwealth nations alongside ministers and representatives from business, civil society and youth organisations. Four forums sit alongside the leaders' meeting. The Commonwealth Business Forum is described by the Secretariat as bringing together "business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers from across the Commonwealth to explore trade, investment and partnership opportunities", and the Secretariat records that it launched a new investment platform ahead of the meeting. The Women's, People's and Youth Forums run in parallel, and a Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions conference follows on 5 November. The delegates on those buses are the forums' intended audience. ## What does a transport operator present in order to be hired? A vehicle, a licence and a record. An operation of this size is assembled on availability, fleet condition and the operator's standing with whoever is hiring. A driving licence attests to permission to drive. It does not attest to passenger handling, defensive driving, incident response or first aid. The region has a qualification built to travel. The Caribbean Vocational Qualification is awarded through the regional certification scheme run by the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies, and for secondary students through the Caribbean Examinations Council under a 2006 mandate of CARICOM's Council for Human and Social Development. It is assessed against CARICOM-approved occupational standards, and CARICOM states that it "will facilitate the movement of artisans and other skilled persons in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy". Ms Myrna Bernard, then the Secretariat's Director of Human and Social Development: "One of the main pillars of the CSME is the free movement of skilled persons throughout the Region." On the public record, no transport occupational standard has been issued under it. The framework that would let a driver certified in Georgetown be read by a hirer in St John's is already in place. The transport entry in it is the part being built. ## Where is a qualification pathway being built? In Guyana, and it runs from drivers already certified to a named credential route. One hundred participants graduated from professional transportation, first aid, CPR and defensive driving courses at Eve Leary on 6 August 2026, which [this newspaper reported at the time](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/police-driver-training-graduation-eve-leary-beyond-the-wheels-2026/). That curriculum feeds the pathway into Beyond the Wheels 2.0, the transport and road safety forum produced by Clarke's Productions Inc, a training and consultancy organisation operating in Georgetown since 2003 under Managing Director and Chief Experience Officer Ms Carlyne Stewart. ## What does the Professional Transport Operator Programme cover? Four stages, ending at a credential aligned to the regional framework. The Professional Transport Operator (PTO) Programme publishes a route that runs from defensive driving fundamentals, through chauffeur training and fleet management practice, to a competency-based credential aligned with Caribbean Vocational Qualifications. Clarke's Productions delivers it alongside Guyanese transport operators, regulators and corporate sponsors, and every delegate who completes the Summit can opt into it. Registration runs on a rolling basis through the organisation's own course register rather than by dated cohort, so an operator enters at the point they decide to rather than waiting for a term to open. Two of those stages are named in the same terms as the gaps a licence leaves: defensive driving, and the first aid and CPR already delivered at Eve Leary. The published route does not say what chauffeur training or fleet management practice contain. The last stage is the one written to carry beyond Guyana, because CARICOM-approved occupational standards are what the Community agreed on so that a qualification earned in one member state could be read in another. ## What is Beyond the Wheels 2.0 convening on? A national declaration, across nine tracks. The forum [launched in Georgetown on 14 October 2026](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/beyond-the-wheels-2-launch-road-safety-summit-2027/) and builds toward a Transportation and Road Safety Summit on 9 and 10 March 2027 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, built for 200 delegates across nine tracks and designed to close with a National Road Safety Declaration. Four of those tracks bear on the kind of operation under way in Antigua: road safety, driver dignity and defensive driving; fleet modernisation and fleet management; logistics and trade corridors; and regulatory reform covering licensing and enforcement. The forum's own [convening with the Private Sector Commission on fleet management and road safety](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/private-sector-commission-meets-beyond-the-wheels-2-0-on-fleet-management-and-road-safety/) was reported in July. Two of those four sit on either side of a hire: modernisation and management govern the vehicles, licensing and enforcement govern who may drive them. The two events are four months apart. St John's is hiring on fleet condition, availability and standing with the hirer. Georgetown is where operators, regulators and fleet buyers put their names to a statement of what the standard should be. ### Disclosure Clarke's Productions Inc is a client of EICCIO Advisors which shares ownership with this newspaper. Clarke's Productions Inc produces Beyond the Wheels 2.0, which is named in this article. ## What is settled before Sunday, and what is not? Three things are fixed and two are not. The dates, the venue, the theme and the forum structure are the Commonwealth Secretariat's own, and the meeting opens on 1 November. The park-and-ride sites and their destinations are published. The registered driver count stands at more than 400 against an estimated 5,000 delegates. Not established: the contracting terms or the duration offered to the private operators, which the reporting does not carry; and the share of the operation the private fleet will in fact run, as against the state fleet and volunteers. The summit convenes on investment. Getting its delegates to the room is a local hire, and nobody hiring them can ask for more than a licence. ### The entities - **Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)** is the biennial summit of Commonwealth heads of government, meeting from 1 to 4 November 2026 in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda. - **Commonwealth Secretariat** is the Commonwealth's intergovernmental body, whose published CHOGM 2026 page is the source for the dates, theme, membership count and forum structure. - **Commonwealth Business Forum** is the forum running alongside the leaders' meeting for business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers. - **Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board** is the body coordinating the CHOGM transport operation. - **Dion Simmons** is the lead of the CHOGM transport committee, quoted on the operation's scope. - **National School Bus System** is Antigua and Barbuda's state school transport service, with about 40 drivers. - **Sticky Wicket** is the venue for the business forum, served by a park-and-ride at Powells playing field. - **Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA)** is the regional aviation authority whose car park is in use for the operation. - **Beyond the Wheels 2.0** is the transport and road safety forum produced by Clarke's Productions Inc, with a summit on 9 and 10 March 2027 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, built for 200 delegates across nine tracks. - **Clarke's Productions Inc** is a training and consultancy organisation operating in Georgetown, Guyana since 2003, and the producer of Beyond the Wheels 2.0. - **Professional Transport Operator (PTO) Programme** is the pathway Clarke's Productions Inc delivers from the Summit, running from defensive driving fundamentals through chauffeur training and fleet management practice to a credential aligned with Caribbean Vocational Qualifications, with rolling registration. - **Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ)** is the Community's competency-based regional qualification, assessed against CARICOM-approved occupational standards and intended to support the movement of skilled persons in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. - **Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA)** is the body formed in 2003 that runs the regional certification scheme awarding the CVQ, and is the implementation arm of CARICOM's Regional Coordinating Mechanism for technical and vocational education and training. - **Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC)** awards the CVQ to secondary students under a 2006 mandate of CARICOM's Council for Human and Social Development. - **Myrna Bernard** was Director of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, quoted on free movement of skilled persons as a pillar of the CSME. ### What the title card shows Every data point on the article's title card, in text. - **More than 400.** Drivers registered for the CHOGM transport operation. Source: the Antigua Observer, 25 October 2026. - **5,000.** The estimated delegates to be moved. Source: as above, reporting the transport committee lead. - **About 40.** Drivers in the National School Bus System. Source: as above. - **1 to 4 November 2026.** The dates of the meeting, in St John's. Source: the Commonwealth Secretariat. - **About 1,000.** Participants at the business forum served by one park-and-ride site. Source: the Antigua Observer. - **100.** Drivers certified at Eve Leary on 6 August 2026 in professional transportation, first aid, CPR and defensive driving. Source: La Caribeña News, 7 August 2026. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### When and where is CHOGM 2026? From 1 to 4 November 2026 in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda, under the theme "Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth", bringing together leaders from 56 Commonwealth nations according to the Commonwealth Secretariat. A Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions conference follows on 5 November. ### How many drivers are moving CHOGM delegates? More than 400 drivers have registered, to move an estimated 5,000 delegates, the Antigua Observer reported on 25 October 2026\. The Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board is coordinating and the National School Bus System contributes about 40 drivers, so additional private providers are essential. ### What is the park-and-ride plan? Powells playing field serves the business forum at Sticky Wicket, Blizzard field serves the American University of Antigua, Piggotts, Seaview Farm and Parham serve the 1 November parade and 2 November One Commonwealth Night, and Factory Cricket Grounds serves staff and volunteers. At least three buses operate at the airport kerbside daily. ### Is there a regional qualification a transport operator can hold? The Caribbean Vocational Qualification is the Community's competency-based regional qualification, awarded through the certification scheme run by the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies and assessed against CARICOM-approved occupational standards. CARICOM states that it "will facilitate the movement of artisans and other skilled persons in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy". On the public record, no transport occupational standard has been issued under it, so a driving licence remains what an operator presents, and it attests to permission to drive rather than to passenger handling, defensive driving, incident response or first aid. ### What is the Professional Transport Operator Programme and when can a driver join? It is the pathway Clarke's Productions Inc delivers from Beyond the Wheels 2.0, running from defensive driving fundamentals through chauffeur training and fleet management practice to a competency-based credential aligned with Caribbean Vocational Qualifications, delivered with Guyanese transport operators, regulators and corporate sponsors. Registration runs on a rolling basis through the organisation's own course register rather than by dated cohort, and every delegate who completes the Summit can opt in. ### What is Beyond the Wheels 2.0? A transport and road safety forum produced by Clarke's Productions Inc in Georgetown, Guyana, which launched on 14 October 2026 and builds toward a Transportation and Road Safety Summit on 9 and 10 March 2027 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, closing with a National Road Safety Declaration. It is built for 200 delegates across nine tracks, four of which bear on transport procurement: road safety, driver dignity and defensive driving; fleet modernisation and fleet management; logistics and trade corridors; and regulatory reform covering licensing and enforcement. One hundred drivers were certified at Eve Leary on 6 August 2026 under a curriculum that feeds its pathway, and it convened with the Private Sector Commission on fleet management and road safety in July 2026.