{"id":148446,"date":"2022-03-23T07:41:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T11:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=148446"},"modified":"2022-03-23T07:42:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T11:42:06","slug":"hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurst: UPP\u2019s protest an act of desperation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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POINTE XPRESS: Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister Ambassador Lionel \u2018Max\u2019 Hurst has dismissed yesterday\u2019s picketing led by opposition political hopefuls as their desperate attempt to capitalise on any issue they believe will cause dissatisfaction among the population.<\/p>

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The government\u2019s recent assurance of a review of fuel prices in the coming weeks did not prevent a group of opposition United Progressive Party supporters from taking to Queen Elizabeth Highway on Tuesday morning to demand the immediate reduction in the cost of at the pump.<\/p>\n

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Yesterday morning\u2019s turnout certainly disappointed organisers who had encouraged \u201cevery right-thinking\u201d Antiguan and Barbudan to join the picket.<\/p>

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However, only a small group of placard bearing supporters loyal to the party responded to the call. In addition to demanding an immediate decrease in fuel prices, the political aspirants among the group highlighted infrequent water supply to households and the lack of equipment for the fire department.<\/p>

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Described as the \u201cstandard bearer\u201d for the constituency of St. John\u2019s City South, one of the organisers, Franz deFreitas wanted citizens and residents to agree that the issues raised during the protest are unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore of us need to stand up for those rights and defend our rights constitutionally in this country to say that wrong is wrong in Antigua and Barbuda.\u201d Party leader Harold Lovell, who also joined the picket in front the Office of the Prime Minister, highlighted issues of his own, some of which were inherited by the ABLP from the UPP administration. According to Lovell, the persistent issues are the result of \u201ca failed experiment\u201d. \u201cThey have been given the opportunity and they have failed. This is the case of the failed experiment. Time for them to go.\u201d<\/p>

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But Ambassador Hurst said the actions of the UPP amount to exploitation. Speaking specifically to the recent increase of fuel prices, Hurst said: \u201cIf you look at the other countries in the Caribbean, we have not done too badly in terms of the way we have handled the price rise. \u201cOn diesel, the government is virtually making nothing, and on gasoline, we are far below what Mr. Lovell himself proposed that we should be making per gallon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I dismiss them as attempting to stir up the kinds of opposition that they think might win them an election that is around the corner. \u201cI am disappointed again and again when I have to tell them that the election is not around the corner, and the increase in oil prices is not an Antiguan phenomenon, but one that everyone in the world is suffering at this time. So they must pick their issues wisely.\u201d<\/p>

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POINTE XPRESS: Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister Ambassador Lionel \u2018Max\u2019 Hurst has dismissed yesterday\u2019s picketing led by opposition political hopefuls as their desperate attempt to capitalise on any issue they believe will cause dissatisfaction among the population.   The government\u2019s recent assurance of a review of fuel prices in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":124572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHurst: UPP\u2019s protest an act of desperation - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hurst: UPP\u2019s protest an act of desperation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"POINTE XPRESS: Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister Ambassador Lionel \u2018Max\u2019 Hurst has dismissed yesterday\u2019s picketing led by opposition political hopefuls as their desperate attempt to capitalise on any issue they believe will cause dissatisfaction among the population.   The government\u2019s recent assurance of a review of fuel prices in the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-23T11:41:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-23T11:42:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Lionel-Max-Hurst.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Hurst: UPP\u2019s protest an act of desperation\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-23T11:41:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-23T11:42:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":51,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:404\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Lionel-Max-Hurst.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hurst-upps-protest-an-act-of-desperation\/\",\"name\":\"Hurst: UPP\u2019s protest an act of desperation - 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