LOOP: Prime Minister Gaston Browne said he would not accede to calls from the opposition for him to resign following last week’s migrant boat tragedy, which resulted in at least three men losing their lives.
The opposition parties said Browne should take responsibility for the migrants’ deaths since his government supported the now defunct Antigua Airways charter flights, which brought over 900 West Africans from Nigeria and left them in the Caribbean in dire circumstances.
Browne told listeners of his weekly radio program on Point FM on Saturday that the opposition members are seeking to score political points off the tragic incident.
“This is an unfortunate situation that would have happened but for anyone to seek to lay blame on me or any member of my administration, clearly they are being mischievous,” he said.
“Those who are calling for resignations, you’ll are not getting the government so easily. You have to go back to the polls and let the people of Antigua and Barbuda decide”.
Browne stated his government supported an air link between Africa and the Caribbean because of their strong belief in connecting people from both regions.
He said his government does not regret working with the airline.
Browne added he is paying attention to the “desperate” actions of his detractors whom he said are determined to destroy Antigua and Barbuda’s international image and he will take legal action against anyone who defames his character.
Browne has called on government agencies to investigate the incident that occurred late on March 27.
Thirty West Africans and two Antiguans left Urlings, Antigua on a fishing boat destined for the US Virgin Islands.
A few hours into the journey, the boat was struck by large waves and capsized.
Fourteen Cameroonians and the two Antiguans were rescued from the ocean while a 13 are missing. (LOOP)
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The Gaston Browne Government is on its last legs. The last election result showed that and now with the ALP government not calling an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding these immigrant Africans being brought to Antigua and then dying at sea, the government will not last. Why would anyone not want a commission of inquiry? Answer that.
There is no need to resign. The Prime minister & his administration was reaching out to the cameroonian on an humanitarian effort. It seems as though UPP wantnto live light and smell sweet by throwing the Labour party under the bus. It will not and cannot work!! Real and come again!!
What really must one say about a counterproductive idiot like u?
With all due respect Mr Prime Minister, wanting to set up an airlink between Africa and Antigua was a good and noteworthy thing. However, the one that was set up was nothing to lament about or to be proud of. Whilst I believe that the government was duped into believing that the arriving passengers were bonifide tourists, it is pellucid that little or no due diligence took place on either side of the Atlantic and all this precipitated this mess. Even the local Immigration was negligent in how they processed the incoming passengers, the vast majority of whom did not have a clue where they were gonna be accommodated. No Guyanese or Jamaican would ever be as lucky to proceed pass immigration without confirmation of their accommodation. In fact Guyanese and Jamaicans are usually interrogated and benched at the airport if they do not have all the intricate details that immigration requires for landing. We dropped the ball on this one in many ways.
Totally agree. Imagine I am Guyanese and came to Antigua and produced a CSME cerrificate and was still placed on bench. I was never once on the other side of the law. No explanation was given as to why I was placed to wait on a bench but look now how these scores of people just flodded in without a fuss and sadly ended up being flodded. This government is a joke the entire police lack so much and a heap a dunce they alot to running the streets.
We are not asking anybody to resign. We want a commission of inquiry. Let us find out the truth!
Hon. Gaston Browne you are Right! It was a tragedy, but it was done so by persons who were involved. They knew the risks and they still went along with the mission. I sympathize with the families of the deceased and hope they can find some closure.
Amazing DEFENSIVE tactics by Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Outstanding manoeuvre!
Here’s 5 main reasons why he has to revert to this:
1) Blaming others for his own shortcomings
2) Telling the citizens of Antigua they shouldn’t feel how they do about him, because we are WRONG 😁
3) Gaston becomes defensive because he knows he is MISREPRESENTING and trying to forget what has occurred
4) here’s a prime example from his current speech:
“… This is an unfortunate situation that would have happened but for anyone to seek to lay blame on me or any member my administration, clearly they are being mischievous …”
5) Gaston’s defensive actions are to DEFY, DEFLECT or DESTROY his critics and opposition and then try to gain some sort of initiative for an offensive attack on them as highlighted in this news article.
Citizens of Antigua, our Prime Minister is now playing with us by using LINGUISTIC gymnastics that’ll will baffle the unintelligible, the gullible and the serfs – who love deference (and submission) and never question what they are hearing.
However, critical thinkers no better …
DAMN I’M GOOD … 😉
Indeed you are, Sir.
*know better
Its all about wanting to take the seat of power at all cost.
After failing at the polls box….they will do anything …try anything….spread unfounded scandals…hoping to get some kind of enquiry to bring a government at all cost.
No way! UPP happy they’re not the ones in the hot seat of this mess. Small Islanders have no idea how much their lives are going to be negatively affected by this debacle. If y’all think that the rest of the world aren’t paying attention to Antigua’s criminal activities of human smuggling, better think again. Soon, y’all will need individual Visa’s for the Schengen countries. As the Guadeloupe prosecutor puts it, “trafficking in human beings in organized gang”… this is how Antigua is being seen on the world’s stage. Buckle up for the fallout.
No Dexy, we don’t want Gaston Browne governing Antigua anymore, some of us can put up with any other leader from the ABLP.
Gaston doesn’t put the citizens or the country first – and rarely has.
Simplification personified really!
A desperate opposition..
5 years from now check in
Nice soundbite @ Ital.
Wow,
Gaston is defiant as ever!
The defiant and belligerent PM was warned against the venture that his administration committed Antigua to.
He wantonly ignored all warnings and Antiguans have witnessed the outcome from his opportunistic desire of welcoming rich Nigerians into the country. Marvellous Mike et al recognised that they were dealing with a simpleton and exploited him without the buffoon realising that he was being taken for an A**, or as the Yoruba would say a “Dundee”. The laugh is on you PM.
Instead of rich Nigerians we got planes full of Gaston migrants. You can’t get anymore daft than this PM. You are an embarrassment to the nation and the Caribbean basin.
It was the PM who agreed to 80:20% share of profits, what Antiguans were not told where the profits were going to be made from.
No administration apart from ALP would go against international covention and indulged in human trafficking.
He forget that it was his administration who brought his migrants into the country in the dead of night, equally it was under his administration that some his migrants met their demise.
His migrants entered the country without due diligence being observed and strangely, the buffoon accused citizens as being mischievous. Lmao 🤣
The redundant PM, overlooked the serious implications and ramifications of his devious conduct and as per usual he is threatening legal actions zzz.
He’s reminded that Antigua is not a police state and whilst it remains a democratic society he should brace himself for further ridicule, if he can’t take the criticism he should jumped ship,no punt intended.
100% REAL!
Did anybody other than the PM really think that tourists were to be coming on these flights? I didn’t even think the plane was real until I saw it pass over. Somebody should investigate the source of the other 80% of the funding. Money don’t just show up like that.
I can bet my last dollar that had this tragedy occurred during upp tenure, ALP would have a field day. So this notion that upp is trying to score political points is just a deflection. The cabinet needs to take responsibility for this mess as it is the same Gaston Browne gov. Who brought these people here. The YouTube video is clear to see all the Alp poppets falling in line to introduce these Africans. I dont recall seeing anyone from the opposition! Alp needs to take accountability and fix it by sending these people back to Africa and stop this “so called” Antigua airways as this will happen again!! These people are desperate.
They were not even supposed to be Cameroonians but Nigerians. This government is in real trouble.
Some are Nigerians that are posing as Cameroonians fleeing from war –That would get them asylum in the USA. Didn’t you hear the Alibanjo guy say they are from many countries in Africa? IMO, they are holding passports from different countries other than their birth place in Africa. Some African passports are allowed visa free access to more countries than others.
Ghanian passport visa free… 44 countries
Cameroonian passport visa free…22 countries.
Nigerian passport visa free …26 countries.
I suspect many fake passports in the mix.
THE TRUTH ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP. WHEN YOU DO EVIL THINGS IN THE DARKNESS OF NIGHTS.THE SUN COMES IN THE DAYLIGHTS AND EXPOSE YOUR EVIL DOINGS.GASTON BROWNE,WHERE IS YOUR SHAME? OH,I FORGOT YOU HAVE NONE.
So all the investment and monies spent on this so-call adventure is just washed down the drain? A country who is struggling to keep it’s citizens and it’s ole raggedy town/city /afloat cannot afford to through away money like this and simply brush this debacle aside..smdh. An audit has to be done here, to find out how much was garnished from the budget and how the government intend to recoup those funds. The extra hours of immigration officers to work those flights, the motor cades for all the distinguish guest who accompanied the passengers,the water and resources that were spent in the celebrations at the airport, all of it cost money, and have to be accounted for. Antigua people both home and abroad deserve answers, the neighbors of Antigua and the entire Caribbean need answers for crying out loud. This is bad people, not a good look, and no one has answers, waw.
*throw*
Porkston Browne is delusional thinking it’s her government. The power hungry a-hole is so desperate to cling on to power it makes one wonder what she is so scared of. She has forgotten that in a democratic nation, people are voted in by the citizens who think they will be represented fairly, equally and as well as in the best interest of the people and the nation. Porkston Browne has done none of them.
Porkston Browne thinks we are her free ride to everything and anything and can do as she as she likes no matter what. As bad as she thinks she is, we have the final say and when we call a No Confidence Vote, she will soon know who really rules our country. We have no room for dictators and the like. The moment a politician no longer works for the people, that’s the time we the people get them out of office.
The execution of Nigel Christian, the human trafficking of Mehul Choksi, lack of maintenance of our infrastructure, FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried operating here and the latest and biggest debacle of Antigua Airways and the Nigerian scam (including the giving away of 10 Antigua passports and the unfortunate deaths of innocent people who were also scammed) have all occurred under who’s watch? Yes, that’s right Porkston Browne herself. Every last one of them happened under her watch while she and her cronies continue to practice their creative enrichment schemes. Porkston Browne is not at fault completely.
The people who voted her in are also at fault. To all those who voted the imbecile Porkston Browne for table scraps (the usual ham, turkey, microwave and so forth), I hope you are happy with those filling for a few days table scraps she threw to you. Was your vote worth it? Instead of having food for a few days, you could be having food every week for the entire year. You could also be pay your bills and have your toys if you didn’t throw your vote away on those table scraps. Your living situation is dire and in the meantime, Porkston Browne living high on the hog. She, Porkston Browne is eating steak, pork chops, ham and lobster with all the decadent trimmings with wine and champaign while you can barely afford to get a piece of bread and cheese with water. How’s that vote working out for you now? Of course you have the usual ass kissers.
Folks like Buller Bloke, In the Battyline, Cornell Tenman Hughes, Eric the Now Dead Red and the rest of Porkston Brownes’ ass kissers are doing well presumably as they are getting whatever they can from the ass they continue to kiss. What about the rest of you who voted for Porkston Browne? Are you reaping the same luxurious benefits as them? If your answer is no, then the answer is to remove Porkston Browne and the rest of her cronies from office.
A No Confidence Vote needs to happen if any of you are not happy with the way Antigua is and the lifestyle you are now forced to live. You can reverse course and remove all of them from office one by one until they start working for you and the people of Antigua. It’s never about party, it’s about who will work for the people and the betterment of everyone in their constituency and in turn our country as a whole.
Party loyalty should always be about what they can do for our country; not what they can take from us while thoroughly abusing their positions by lying, making underhanded deals, giving and taking away crown lands and stealing. Every vote should be about what your representative will do to better your constituency and your living conditions, jobs and the like. Party colour does not mean a thing, it’s what they do for us. We all should be striving to move forward NOT backward and that’s what Porkston Browne and her pond scum have been doing to us. Are you going to wait until something like our passports are no longer valid for travel and we are no longer granted visas to visit other countries?
Call a No Confidence Vote now. Together we can do it and better our nation.
Brixtonian, time to rally the troops.
A No Confidence Vote is in order.
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