By Harold Lovell
Irecently had the opportunity to listen to a recording of the Prime Minister as he explained the reasons for poor road infrastructure in Antigua and Barbuda.
In his explanation, he placed the blame squarely at the feet of the Director of Public Works, Mr Aldin Crump. In doing so, he made some startling allegations which have far-reaching implications for the state of governance in the country.
Among other things, this was what he said:
“I said to him, you either ship up or ship out. I am telling you all, if within the next 60 days going into January and we do not see any significant improvement in those patch works, the Director will be removed….
“And I don’t normally threaten people’s jobs. We’re not necessarily saying we are firing him but I’m holding him personally responsible.” …
“Y’all are so concerned about the little gifts. I’m not going to call it bobol, but you know how things work. And I don’t envy them – don’t get me wrong – but they are more concerned about the little gifts they get from contractors than the government work….
“They say way di horse tie, there they feed….
“I’ve said to him, if you don’t step up and increase the productivity at Public Works, you’re going home.”
As I listened to these words, I was both shocked and saddened as an Antiguan.
Based on the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda, we operate within a Ministerial system of government. The Governor General, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, assigns to a Minister, responsibility for the administration of the Ministry. (Section 71(1))
The Permanent Secretary is responsible for the supervision of the Ministry, subject to the direction and control of the Minister. (Section 78(1))
Public dissatisfaction with road infrastructure is well known and taxpayers are entitled to know how their tax dollars are being spent. Funds for road infrastructure and other public works are provided by the taxes paid by the residents of this country at the port, in supermarkets, on property and other sources of government revenue. Government therefore has a fiduciary responsibility to utilize these funds in a responsible manner and it is for the Minister to go to Parliament and give a clear, credible explanation to satisfy people’s justifiable concerns.
The accusations made against the Director of Public Works amount to two serious charges. First, unsatisfactory performance of his duties and secondly, misconduct by taking improper gifts in the course of his employment. To just throw these accusations into the public domain without producing any evidence is damaging not only to Mr Crump but to the reputation of Antigua and Barbuda.
Regarding unsatisfactory performance, the Director is a qualified professional who was hired based on his qualifications and his experience. If his lack of performance has been an ongoing matter, the Permanent Secretary, in consultation with the Minister, ought to have referred the matter to the Public Service Commission. The Commission should then act on the complaint by having a qualified engineer investigate the matter to see whether there is any merit to the complaint. If the complaint has substance, then the appropriate action should have been taken.
It is highly improper for the Prime Minister to be casting doubt on the competence of the Director.
The other accusation is even more troubling. To openly accuse a senior civil servant of misconduct of the most serious kind is scandalous. In the practice of modern statecraft, it is unheard of for a Prime Minister to impute such improper motives without some prior finding of guilt or criminal conviction.
This is even more egregious knowing that Mr Crump, as a public servant, cannot defend himself in a similar forum. If the allegations are false, then Mr Crump should take legal action against the Prime Minister for defaming his character. He literally called Mr Crump a corrupt, incompetent manager.
Further, the Prime Minister is also the Minister of Corporate Governance. Presumably, this Ministry was established to promote good governance including accountability and transparency. Yet, he felt comfortable to say without any sense of embarrassment that he wasn’t envious of Mr Crump receiving “gifts” from contractors. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act (2004), if a public official accepts gifts in the manner described by the Prime Minister it is a criminal offence. How does the question of envy even arise?
The Prime Minister threatened to fire Mr Crump if there is no improvement within 60 days. It should be noted that the power to appoint, transfer and discipline civil servants is vested in the Public Service Commission under Section 99 of the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda.
As was clearly established in the case of Elloy deFreitas v the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and The Attorney General, a civil servant is not the employee of the Prime Minister. They are both employees of the State.
Mr Crump is a civil servant as defined by the Civil Service Act and any disciplinary action against him can be taken only by the Public Service Commission.
Section 99 (11) of the Constitution is very clear. It states, “The Commission shall, in the exercise of its functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”
That includes the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.
The case of Ira Davis and others v The Attorney General(The Teachers’ Case) established that the Public Service Commission has a duty to act fairly and impartially. However, by the Prime Minister’s stated intention to get rid of Mr Crump, any process to discipline Mr Crump has already been tainted. Any purported dismissal, suspension or transfer by the Public Service Commission can be challenged as being punitive and in breach of its duty to act impartially.
On 1stt November 2024, we celebrated our 43rd Anniversary of political independence. We sang our National Anthem, we raised our flag and raised it boldly. As we answer now to duty’s call, let us strive to build a modern constitutional democracy founded on the principles of good governance.
In the bad old days, the Colonial Governor controlled the legislative and the Executive arms of the Government. He could hire and fire as he pleased. He talked as he liked, how he liked, to whom he liked.
Forty-three years after we threw off the colonial shackles, it seems like the ghosts of the past still haunt the way we do business in Antigua and Barbuda.
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
Best Prime Minister Antigua never had I will miss your presence for sure the state of Antigua-Barbuda is poorer without you
Maria is to be blamed as well. She’s clueless as to what it takes to manage such important Public Departments which deal with INFRASTRUCTURE. Maria is a failure. Lovell there was not much difference under the UPP GOVERNMENT. Both parties have failed miserably in dealing with the infrastructure. Buildings don’t deteriorate overnight. It’s poor management all around.
Great points and backed by law. Why would he need to mention not being envious? One would say he is and want his cut, as usual. That can be reasonably inferred from the PM’s statements.
I genuinely do not believe this PM is caring. I know that now. Through research, I realize a lot of supporters support him not because he is a good leader but becsuse they hate UPP and PLM. I literally found that out in a village.
When PLM won or something like that they sent home all ALP or those specific ALP supporters including persons I know and for that, they have hated UPP ever since and vote for ABLP because of their hatred for UPP. And I can empathize for the feelings. But they can have better than does not have to be ABLP or UPP.
I remember begging for grants for Law school from UPP, and they refused me but offer to others. And I remember ABLP doing the same thing but worse when I ask for support in the form of informing regulatory/administrative agencies that my endeavor/entity is of national importance and applications should be decided on the merit and within a reasonable time but said he, the PM Brown, cannot help, with such small and reasonable actions. Then his criminal bloggers coming on here defending and trying to defame and place folks in false light to protect the protection they have from prosecution. But the time will come.
Think about this, there are numerous people with advance degrees from Antigua in economics, finance, business, law, medicine, accounting, social science, engineering but do you see any or any substantial amount of these people in any government position pertsining to their field they have an advance degree of knowledge in? Nope.
There is literally no position for them because those ministers are in these positions thinking they are the best and the only person for the position. A position they have no degree in. You ever see a top economist and financial expert in the ministry of finance? You ever see an expert in administrative/regulatory law in any financial regulatory body in Antigua?
You ever see person with US legal training scoring over 90% in administrative/regulatory law and passing multi-state bar exam with scores of over 85% with knowledge of US financial regulations/administrative law at the helm of anything agency in Antigua and Barbuda that must work closely with similar administrative/regulatory agencies in the US? Nope.
Anyway, Antigua and Barbuda, you deserve better. You deserve people with the advance degree of knowledge and the ethics/morals/principles to help you grow best.
Start moving to better. Change your current government and on a separate note, those of you with advance degree of knowledge, you can get a greencard from the US called NIW. You cannot grown in Antigua and Barbuda, you cannot contribute the way you want in Antigua and Barbuda, you cannot achieve the kind of financial success you deserve in Antigua and Barbuda, there are no opportunities there. Not with the current government and options for government in Antigua and Barbuda. Move to the US. You can live here like I do without marrying someone for a greencard by applying using your advance degree or the alternate, exceptional ability using NIW-EB2.
oh please! Look who’s talking. the “man” that ALLOWED SANDALS TO HOLD ON TO OUR ABST MONIES!!!! WORST FINANCE MINISTER EVER!!!!! The IMF man, ROMANTIC RHYTHMS FAILURE, ABIB COLLAPSED under his watch etc etc
No moral authority
You think that Pringle will EVER be capable of writing something like this? Pringle is a dunce loser and UPP will continue to be a dunce loser for so long as it hitches its wagon to Pringle as leader.
Nebuchadnezzar, why don’t you put a sock in it. Got sit on the porch & have some Honey 🍯 Bunches of Oats 😋😙🤣.
stay in Canada! You are a non-entity to Wadadli
Thankyou for providing some useful facts in this matter, otherwise we’d be stuck getting all our information from the radio. This is nothing but the DPW taking the fall for the whole administration. Notice he didn’t say he would fire him because he knows there is a process and the man would have a strong case for unfair dismissal. They are probably going to have him pave a few roads, patch some holes and call it progress, just in time to call the next election, and somehow he will keep his job if they win. Please fix my road while you at it.
Totally agree with one of the earlier commentators here, who highlighted that the Honourable Harold Lovell was “the best Prime Minister Antigua never had”; and sadly missing out by a handful of votes at the last General Election.
THE COUNTRY HAS SUFFERED EVER SINCE.
The current incumbent Gaston Browne places all the blame on the Public Works Director, but not a word on his Minister for Housing, Land and Urban Renewal Maria Browne.
I WONDER WHY?
This is why I’ve highlighted on a number of occasions that nepotism and cronyism can NEVER work. Gaston would never hold his wife to account or sack her. Fact, fact, fact …
Tell me ah lie!
Exactly.
All of a sudden Harold Lovell is a Consulting Expert on Proper Public Sector Procedures. As Lester would say – Give me an asprin!
@Hypocrisy! You forgot the Failed Car Park, the $150 million wasted on the Wadadli Power Plant, massive overspending on the $100 million VC Bird runway extension and many other situations where Harold’s expertise should have kick in.
And after the flawed but not completely dunce Harold Lovell, what does UPP give us today? Jamale Pringle who would make Harold’s performance look like Sunday School. Thank Jah that the voters of this country are not suicidal.