Residents of the sister isle took to the streets of St John’s outside the office of Antigua Commercial Bank in protest.
They demanding that the bank resume full operations on the sister isle.
Since the passage of Hurricane Irma in September 2017, the bank has only resumed ATM service on the island.
One protester said other than the ATM service, no other service is being offered to the residents.
“The bank has reestablished its ATM presence in Barbuda but it has limited Barbudans to only withdrawing their monies as oppose to its regular service offerings in Barbuda.”
Another protestor says the island’s population is made of various people and some are unable to make the journey over to the mainland.
“You go out there its pensioners, you got shut-ins, people that can’t get out that depends on other people that need the banking systems.”
ACB marketing and Public Relations Executive Seth Burton says the bank is committed to resuming service by June 2019.
“By June, the agency will be reopened and we’re committed to that, and we’re ensuring that everything would be in place to ensure that the Barbudans have direct agency support.”
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Good. Now they need to go up to the PM’s office and protest there for not bringing any development to Barbuda.
What possible excuse could there be to get a bank small enough to fit in my front room up and running?. Even when it was up and running the staff there had no hurry about customer service, sometimes 5 people are waiting an hour to be seen while some staff play on their mobile phones. They need to move their shit up a gear!.
No one can force a private bank to have a branch in their neck of the woods, Who will be paying for the cost. It’s not that I do not understand the issue of the Barbudans, but guess what you guys do not want development and therefore it is not economical for a bank to set up shop there. ACB was doing this as a good corporate citizen. Why is the council not negotiating with the bank and offer them free housing until such time that economic activities would allow them to be profitable. As you know many of the banking in Antigua is concentrated in town. People from Freetown cannot say ACB will have to open a branch there. The reason why banks open branches is because of the economic activity that they see in that area. At one time Barclays had two branches in town. One on the corner of Market and St. Mary’s Street and the High Street branch. But like with everything Barbudans are mislead by their leaders. And all they can do is to demand things they are not entitle to. If it were government services than I would say they have a right just like any other citizen to get those services. Therefore no Barbudan should be ask to come over to pay Social Security, MBS or Education Levy. Or ABST for that matter, I wish these people start to get educated and don’t just follow their lazy leaders. Trevor should have been everyday in the manager’s office fighting to have the branch open. If not Trevor should use his business as an exchange and cash checks for them. It’s that easy. Many old people do not go to the bank to change their check. They go to the village shop or gas station and sign over the check.
Btw was Trevor Walker a part of this protest? or did he leave them to their own accord? I’m not sure if ACB is honestly eager to reopen that branch if it doesn’t stand to gain any profits. What is the main source of economic activity on the island? Is it selling fish and lobster sandwiches? Is that all Barbudans are capable of? Fish and lobster? No ambition? No dreams, vision or goals to advance themselves and the place that Codrington leased from the Crown?
Why we antiguans love politics so? We must give the damn people them a break. Some of you with your irrelevant comments is not affected in any where so you don’t give damn. So Barbudans shouldn’t have the same democratic rights as we do. Everything that affects us we get on all media and pour out our grievance. We even protest too so I don’t see no problem with them doing the same thing. Barbudans are very talented and intellectually sound individuals, so why some of us Antiguans think that they are bats? You might not agree with what they do but their ways and culture is different from ours even though we are a twin island state. Some of us just keep dividing the damn state.
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