ELEVEN YEARS SINCE THE CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT
On 12 June 2014, or eleven years ago on this day, the people of Antigua and Barbuda decided to elect a new government to serve their needs. The United Progressive Party (UPP) was defeated after ten years as Government, from 2004 to 2014, by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP), led by the Honourable Gaston Browne.
The ABLP won 14 of the 17 seats, and the UPP won 3. Barbuda was won by ABLP Arthur Nibbs who defeated the BPM/UPP candidate by a single vote. Nonetheless, the entire victory was decisive and the people spoke loudly. They rejected the majority mandate that had been given to the UPP administration in 2004 and in 2009, and they armed the ABLP with the power to govern, believing that the heritage party was indeed “Ready To Rebuild.”
Whenever a country turns to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for funding, it is because no other lending institution will provide needed capital; the IMF is the bank of last resort. The UPP borrowed $320,000,000 including interest from the IMF, beginning shortly after the start of its second term; that sum was not invested but spent to meet regular obligations.
When the 6th June 2014 arrived, and time for repayment had arrived, the UPP defaulted. The general elections were six days away, on 12 June 2014. This particular failure led the Antigua and Barbuda people to reject the incumbent; they turned to a renewed Labour Party. By 2018, the IMF debt was repaid in full, a decade ahead of the scheduled time given.
Debts owed and unpaid by the UPP regime in 2014 included more than $80,000,000 owed to the West Indies Oil Company for fuel delivered to the electricity plant; a debt in excess of $120,000,000 owed to Antigua Power Company for unpaid electricity provided; a debt in excess of $22,000,000 owed to Sembcorp—the provider of potable water by reverse osmosis; a failed ABI Bank that would cost more than $375,000,000 to resolve and to save the banking system. Antigua and Barbuda was on the verge of becoming a failed State in 2014. The ABLP would win the general elections of 2018 and again in 2023, reviving the mandate of 2014, in each case.
The UPP has, since 2014, alienated many of its talented members who have joined with the ABLP to ensure that better governance remains in the hands of the superior political party and government. Eleven years of successful governance have provided a clear measurement of the effectiveness of the incumbent administration, led by Prime Minister Gaston Browne. The economy has expanded exponentially, jobs and investment opportunities have multiplied, new housing has become available to more than 3,000 households, and crime has been driven to very low levels. The gross domestic product has almost doubled since 2014.
Government transparency and openness have become commonplace, in the eleven years since 2014, including weekly briefings by a spokesperson for Cabinet whose responsibility has been to appear before reporters who ask probing questions. In the Parliament, there is a half-hour dedicated to allowing the Opposition members to ask questions of the Prime Minister; the Prime Minister responds spontaneously, since no questions are submitted in advance.
The losing UPP has resorted to joining with those who wish to harm Antigua and Barbuda and to destroy the ability to attract foreign direct investment, required for economic expansion and increased investment opportunities. Their recent alignment with a Russian plaintiff, claiming ownership of the Alfa Nero yacht that was sold by auction, is a clear example of unpatriotic and untruthful assertions; the Russian dispatched an investigator to Antigua, seeking to find dirt on government officials and family members of the Prime Minister. The UPP operatives gladly collaborated with fictionalized accounts. That matter has come to an end in the US court.
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Time flies.
Big up World Boss and Team Labour
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
Omg!
What a long epistle🤔
So, how come antigua look so?
I’m asking for a friend.
Whey all the money garn?
There’s a special place in. Hell For the entire labor government and their cabal.
Go ahead and build mansion and thief the people’s money’s.🤔🫣
Keep it up!
Want all will certainly get none. A word to the wise is sufficient.
Dark day in history.
AND I SURE FEEL THE PAIN .. I’m not seeing the trickle down effect once promised, only one set of people getting all the money, building all the homes, buying all the lands and on top of that they have there hands in every business opportunity…repeat after me “LABOR PAIN” yes I feel it ..
Congratulations to the best Prime Minister since V.C. Bird. Wishing you and your Cabinet Ministers many more prosperous years ahead. God Blessings and God Bless our Nation.
11 years, and the place still looks the same. No proper development. Saint John’s is shit, LITERALLY!, roads are a mess, services are still outdated
That was nothing more than a political piece,
You politicians are sickening.
If this guy gets one more term the nation will be over as we know it and we I’ll have to fight to get back our lands and better life
And let’s look at the vast list of BROKEN manifesto promises over the 11 years (that should have been completed by 2025) since Browne came to prominence that his supporters are conveniently overlooking:
BUCKLE UP FOLKS!
1), The ABLP are well behind in their house building programme to the electorate to-date. Fact!
2), Antigua’s nation-wide water supply system is still well behind schedule with many households relying on water barrels, buying from water trucks and supermarkets.
3), The derelict car park and disused buildings in St John’s is still an eyesore up to this day.
4), Power cuts is still a regular occurrence 11 turbulence years on of Browne’s so-called “power house” governance.
5), The road infrastructure has been an absolute disaster, and has got a lot worse (which some of us didn’t think was even possible). Inferior materials being used for partial repairs, and when the heavy rains came down, everything just washed away.
6), Inflation is eating up any disposable income that Antiguans made. Inflation should never rise above wages, because it leaves Antiguans well out of pocket.
7), Total transparency was also an ABLP manifesto promise; however Browne has been very selective in what he informs we the public. A case in point is his reluctance in a Freedom Of Information request to investigate whether or not the government handled matters correctly, above board and with the utmost Transparency. To-date, he’s still defying the FOI Act.
8), Hardworking Antiguans life was supposed to have improved markedly after 11 years of ABLP governance, but let’s look at those who have really benefited, shall we:
The hotelier’s who have successfully lobbied the ABLP for the best deals for themselves to the detriment of country at large – they should be taxed at a higher rate.
The diaspora have been rightly encouraged to invest here, and have made vast improvements to our economy; however it would have been nice if this government had also encouraged the indigenous population to do the same with much needed incentives and easier access to banking and business accounts.
9), Policing was supposed to be another improvement (including uniform and much needed equipment), but sadly criminal activities have gone through the roof in 11 years, with gun crime, robberies and child molestation a very worrying trend.
10), Medical and hospital treatment. Both our hospitals should be fully functional. The Holberton just needed refurbishing, so that medical treatment is conducted here on the island for one and all.
However, the two tier system in use at present, allows the politicians, the privilege and the rich to travel abroad for serious or even minor treatment, and the rest have to fend for themselves. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
All this back-scratching and self congratulations is stomach churning – to say the least – to the hardworking Antiguans who are still struggling after 11 very difficult ABLP years.
REMEMBER BROWNE, ANTIGUANS HAVE EYES