{"id":257031,"date":"2025-11-06T10:26:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T14:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=257031"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:26:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T14:26:57","slug":"maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Maurice Merchant defends Minister amid \u2018Vehicle-Gate\u2019 controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Director of Communications Maurice Merchant has defended Public Works Minister Maria Bird Browne, describing the criticism against her as \u201cunwarranted\u201d and politically driven.<\/p>

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Speaking at Thursday\u2019s Cabinet press briefing, Merchant said Bird Browne was being unfairly targeted after exposing alleged irregularities in the sale of government vehicles \u2014 the issue now known as \u201cVehicle-Gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whistleblower has become the one under attack,\u201d he said, insisting the minister revealed the questionable transactions rather than participated in them.<\/p>

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Opposition figures and civic groups continue to demand an independent inquiry, alleging the mismanagement of nearly 100 government vehicles.<\/p>

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The Cabinet has rejected those calls, with Merchant stating that the government\u2019s focus is on recovering funds from dealerships involved, not on what he called \u201cname and shame\u201d politics.<\/p>\n

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Director of Communications Maurice Merchant has defended Public Works Minister Maria Bird Browne, describing the criticism against her as \u201cunwarranted\u201d and politically driven. Speaking at Thursday\u2019s Cabinet press briefing, Merchant said Bird Browne was being unfairly targeted after exposing alleged irregularities in the sale of government vehicles \u2014 the issue now known as \u201cVehicle-Gate.\u201d \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":240833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMaurice Merchant defends Minister amid \u2018Vehicle-Gate\u2019 controversy - 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\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maurice Merchant defends Minister amid \u2018Vehicle-Gate\u2019 controversy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Director of Communications Maurice Merchant has defended Public Works Minister Maria Bird Browne, describing the criticism against her as \u201cunwarranted\u201d and politically driven. Speaking at Thursday\u2019s Cabinet press briefing, Merchant said Bird Browne was being unfairly targeted after exposing alleged irregularities in the sale of government vehicles \u2014 the issue now known as \u201cVehicle-Gate.\u201d \u201cThe […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-11-06T14:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T14:26:57+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\/2025\/06\/9049848323546716831.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"261\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\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=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\"},\"headline\":\"Maurice Merchant defends Minister amid \u2018Vehicle-Gate\u2019 controversy\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-06T14:26:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T14:26:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\"},\"wordCount\":131,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:261\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/9049848323546716831.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/maurice-merchant-defends-minister-amid-vehicle-gate-controversy\/\",\"name\":\"Maurice Merchant defends Minister amid \u2018Vehicle-Gate\u2019 controversy - 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