LISTEN: PM Browne expresses strong concerns with the performance of the Director of Public Works

Mr. Prime Minister, for the abysmal failure of your administrstion to solve the water problem, you blame APUA staff. Now, you are blaming the Director of Public Works for the deplorable condition of our roads!!! You are even blaming previous administrations for the poor state of our infrastructure that you are incapable of fixing after being in office for more than 10 years. The fact is that you..and your incompetent Ministers have no plan..or capacity..to fix anything..and Antiguans are tired of hearing the same lame excuses and blatant lies..amazing that you even seem to be condoning corruption at the PWD..well they have learnt lot from you and your Ministers..

I agree with the pm get arid of the director, the roads are shameful. The worst I’ve ever seen in over 50 years

The national infrastructure for roads, drains, sidewalks, pipes, electrical poles, telephone lines and even Fibre are all in need of a holistic national strategy to design and implement them efficiently and effectively. The days of quick fixes and haphazard work flows are no longer acceptable. We immediately need a coordinated national infrastructure planning unit to overseas critical servi e areas. Naming and blaming individuals is not the answer. Let us bring together our brightest minds to come up with holistic and lasting solutions for Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬

At all times, managers should be responsible for failures. Managers includes supervisors, managers, MP for Public Works, PM of the country, Political Party in charge.

They are all managers, they all live in the country, move around the country more than most, have actual and constructive notice of the condition of the roads for long periods of time and failed to order, direct, manage, supervise, control, etcetera those below them.

Next election, I just hope to see those old people in politics retire and younger people in places. I hope to never hear a politician say, “I cannot help you”.

I hope to know, decisions will be made timely, and on the merit. I hope there will be no revenge for people speaking up for being disappointed by politicians.

Isn’t his wife the substantive minister? His wife needs to be fired.

Well, He should have replaced the man long time and get someone compitent in getting the job done, instead of letting us know the conversations that he had with the said Detector of PDW dept. This in not competency on the PM’s behalf. And uterlizin colloquial language as well. I’m not impress Mr PM Browne. You have to shape up plz. Thank you

This guy is a narcissist. He blames everybody for the problems going on in Antigua. He is the PM . Our infrastructure is poor. Our town looks and smells like a ghetto. Cost of living killing us . Water problems that was promised to be solved in 14 days ,now it is worse. The youths of our country walking like zombies on our streets. I guess the country is been governed by remote .

wht is the salary of the Director of Public Works? Is it Mr.Crump?????

HOW PUBLIC WORKS FUNCTION

Today they pave a new road.

Tomorrow they dig it up and put in a pipe they forgot to put in and leave the drain for the pipe just how they dug it up and a hill at the side of the road.

They then move to another new road to dig up and the cycle continues.

If a person is given a job and they are not performing, should the PM be responsible for his actions. He is given a chance to do better. A lot of people are so bitter and everything is politics because they hate Gaston, or the ABLP.
Get a grip. Those of us who work for people and have letters on our files, must have been warned and or reprimanded for this to happen. Were you fired, or were you warned first? Ya’ll too bitter! One day, the shoe might be on the other foot. If not for you, maybe to someone for you!

While I and everyone else is concerned about the poor quality of the roads and the slow pace in which they are being repaired, I think it was very distasteful to throw the Director of Public Works under the bus in such a public manner. I can understand strong feelings and exchange of words with the portfolio Minister or even the Prime Minister behind closed doors but this manner of coming on a public forum and castigating, demeaning and humiliating him in such a bizarre, uncommon and odd way was wrong and in poor taste.

Isn’t his wife responsible for Public Works? He take us for fool.

@Audley Phillip November 8, 2024 At 9:08 am
Audley sometime I wonder what your motives are always criticizing the PM for his style of governance and management. Everyone has their own style. And no one style is better then the other. You have no clue what the PM may have done behind close door before coming to the Public. One thing we know about this PM is that almost everything he brings to the Public. You can perhaps say this is his way of being transparent. I remember when he came from the last Shareholders’ meeting of LIAT 1974 when Mia and Ralph decided to liquidate LIAT. He didn’t waste a moment to bring this to the public. And yes his action then in order to safe LIAT was to go to parliament in record time and pass a law that would be able to put a company in administration before it goes into liquidation. He was and is still not quiet about exposing Sandals non-payment of taxes. He was again a rebel when he took on Scotia Bank when they wanted to sell their bank to Republic Bank. Only now we see the wisdom of that. He was not shy to call out the board and management of ECAB and other bank for their shameful practice of having people stand for hours outside the banks using Covid as an excuse. What I wish he had the power to do is to fire many of these non-performing public servants. Because when they do not perform we always blame the minister. Not understanding that the minister’s hands are tight. They cannot even fire a PS. Therefore we can never solve the non-performance in the public sector. Public Servants have more power then the politicians. That is why they, the politicians, created the Non- Establish workers and consultants, Those are their direct reportees. Everyone else reports to the PS. And Audley this is not news to you. You damn well know this. But as I said you are playing politics.
The Public Works Department has for decades operated under a very corrupt system. I have mentioned in one of my comment that the present Director when he had the supervison of a project, blatantly told us that un-less we do not hire his firm to do the engineering work, he will not approve our work. So what you do in a situation like that. You have to work along. And I mean this is what ALL the Engineers in Public Works do. They moonlighgting on the job. Once they sign in for work in the morning, you cannot find them thereafter. And the same practice is at APUA and everywhere. Even agriculture. All the Agromist have their own farms and guess whaft they do. Take care of their own business first before they will assist other farmers. Fertilizers will first be distributed to their own and then to the rest.
I don’t know when and if ever Antigua will be free from this type of corruption. At IRD you have accountants that suppose to be working for the government, work hand in hand with certain business people and asses them so low and some even prepare their financial statement for them. And our Accounting Professionals know about this. Because they are losing clients to them.
I therefore understand the PM shining the light from time to time on them, putting them on the spot, because they feel secure that they are not taking the blame for anything. It’s always the minister.
What I do feel is that this information should have come from the minister. But in the end the box stops with the PM.
So you may not agree with the PM style, but yours may also not be the best. The message is it was brought to light and now everyone knows who behind the scene is not performing. This was the same situation with the manager at APUA.
One of my former bosses use to just pay you off and let you go your way. No time to waste with non-performers. Like Trump said, You’re Fired.

@JCFJW, if I am ever in charge of anything and anyone, which I am, and they fail, I failed. In fact, if I know they and I am not with them ensuring the failure is corrected, I have failed again.

It is time for people to stop being ignorant and stop making excuses for those in charged that failed. They will always think who is below them is the failure and never take responsibility. When he put 100 more directors in place and they failed, based on your analysis, the minister cannot fail, as it would only be those below him that have.

Make this make sense to me, it seems I am not as intelligent as the AAS, B.A, M.A, and JD say I am.

And frankly speaking, if I am in such position as a leader of government, and there are failures, I would and should accept I failed and give my job to new people with new ideas and who are well-positioned to advance their proposed idea. Since yours have not worked. That is what good leaders do instead of thinking they are the best and only person capable of doing the best in the position.

IS HE GOING TO SACK HE WIFE AFTER 60 DAYS AS WELL??? 😳

@Brixtonian November 8, 2024 At 11:24 am
I guess you have not learned anything about the management style of the PM. Not anyone minister has a free reign over his or her ministry. Everything ends up in Cabinet and Cabinet makes the decission. That is why the heads of ministries or state owned corporations or statutory corporations are brought before Cabinet to answer questions. Everything is done by collective accountability. When things were going wrong at APUA the managers and management team was summoned to Cabinet. And eventually the GM was asked to retire.

Opps! My bad @ Less We Forget, I should have said:

“ARE THE ‘CABINET’ GOING TO SACK HE WIFE AFTER 60 DAYS AS WELL?”

Please accept my sincere apologies for the mistake 😉

I hope that at the end of the day, we can get good roads. That is all i am concerned about. I am not into creating and blaming scape gpats for political expedience! Enough is enough! Stop the name calling and finger pointing and get the job done!

Good morning I read additional posts and realize my post was omitted. Possible Cliche?

It was posted before 3:02pm .Thank you

Is there a limit to truth .Classification in expression is humble..The openness is clear..Jesus Emanuel used parables for the wise.Reading your blogs I thought genuine participation was accepted. I am not sure of the blank response. Thank you.