The Ministry of Works has rolled out an ambitious programme for this year that will see major repairs to secondary roads and the completion of some public buildings such as the prison, clinics and police stations.
The details of the pro- gramme were presented in parliament on Thursday by the Minister of Works Ma- ria Browne, during the first day of the debate on the 2023 National Budget.
Browne said the ministry is quite aware of the concerns being expressed by residents in multiple communities across Antigua regarding the state of their roads and infra- structure, generally.
She revealed that in less than two months on the job, the ministry has been able to carry out repairs to sever- al community roads across the island.
“So far we have done the Lablaliah Road in Green Bay Hill, we have seen works done in Sea- tons, Glanvilles, St. John- son’s Village, Willikies, Jennings, Friar’s Hill, Bel- mont and others in two months,” she stated.
She announced that the ministry is creating what she called a ‘Rapid.
Response Unit’ to address those concerns that require urgent attention. “We are also able to set up a Rap- id Response Unit that is tasked with addressing major irritants among the main arteries with quick fixes to problems that may pop up. The unit has been working very well and I wish to ex- tend my appreciation to its members,” she added.
According to Browne her ministry is giving serious consideration to creating a second unit because, as she stated, ‘they are in- undated’ with requests. She disclosed that calls come in ‘every day’ from various communities and also from the members of parliament seeking assistance to address concerns in their areas.
She also indicated that there are some staff issues which she intends to ad- dress, and to have resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
She also revealed that there is already coordination between the Ministries of Works and Utilities to address a long-standing complaint where roads are repaired, only to be dug up soon after by APUA, to lay pipes etc. “We have synergies working between the ministries and we will continue to strengthen these,” she noted.
The Works Minister also reported that consultations are taking place with the Ministry of Public Safety about completing the work being done at the prison, as well as at several police stations, and clinics that are in urgent need of repairs and renovations.
Earlier in the debate, Opposition Leader, Jamale Pringle made a 3-hour-20 minute rebuttal to the prime minister’s budget presen- tation. He was critical of many aspects of the budget which he said lacked real policies to deal with many of the problems in society.
He said there were no programmes to stimulate the private sector to create jobs, thus taking some of the burden from government or other programmes to help ordinary citizens deal with the rising cost of living. -POINTE XPRESS
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
What is the 1800 number for the pothole gang? I have been trying to get this ever since.
I watched Mrs. Browne and she looked like a scared cat. She seems to being pushed by her husband to be at a place where she doesn’t want to be. Has anyone else noticed how she has aged since entering politics?
I have a request for you ministry. What are you going to do about all the filthy drains run running across people’s back yards in Sutherlands that the government doesn’t even clean? When there is a deluge of rain, people’s backyards get flooded with filthy water. Maybe you should take a walk about in Sutherlands and talk to the community. Don’t wait until election time to do it.
Hope she looks at the pond at the top of Whenner Road. Damn shame that hole has been allowed to deteriorate to its current state. SMDH
In the earlies there was a picture making the rounds of your husband holding you as a baby in his arms. Some kind of godfather talk. It made a lot of people uncomfortable.
You are out of your depths, young woman. This is not a class project report. You are playing dolly house with people’s lives.
He lied when he said he did not know you were going into politics, Nevermind he had already taken out and removed your competition. But they were OK with that. They were well rewarded.
Members of the Bird family said you are not one of them. You should ask your mom about that.
In the meantime, you scare me. You have a lot of power, too much power. But you are just a conduit. He’s the one wielding the power. That was designed. Between the two of you, you control the purse strings on Antigua and Barbuda. That is not natural and very scary. Laws of nature say it will not last.
His malevolent heart and evil ways are showing on your face.
Take care of yourself, young mistress.
Maria Browne,you have your work cut out for you. Minister of Public Works,Lands,Housing and Urban Renewal. Are you Maria still on the Board of Directors at West Indies Oil Company? If so,how do find the time to attend Board Meetings and still do your daily responsibilities. Have you ever seen a dollar you did not like and walk away from it? Reminder money by itself is not the root of all evil. THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. Then again you have the same last name as Gaston. Are you two related in any way.LOL.
Maria Browne has always been out of depth, out of kilter and out of step with her important position. People are noticing it now, but favouritism and especially nepotism hasn’t done her any favours at all. She’s struggling.
However, I’ll try to be fair to her.
I’ve witnessed nepotism in my former church – it didn’t work, because the son wasn’t accountable for finance, his congregation or dealing with internal problems when they arose.
I’ve cleaned up behind a managerial work colleague who was given his senior position by his father – and that just didn’t work out; it took me 4-6 months to correct his – workshy – shoddy mess.
And worst of all, is when a parent favours a wotless son or daughter to take care of their financial affairs, and the monetary inheritance has gone with the wind …
Maria Browne can now only sink without trace, or do her work for the country with due diligence and hard hard graft.
Don’t forget Maria is a child to Gaston. Didn’t you always do what your parents told you to do?
I’m not sure about road repairs, what I’ve been seeing so far is the uneven filing of potholes. So the roads are uneven and bumpy. I know this can be done better.
The building of tbe roads could also be considered. Two areas that I think needs addressing is Sea View Farm and All Saints Village.
With respect to Sea View Farm, there’s way too much traffic that passes through the village for the narrow roads. This is the same when you’re on that stretch of road in All Saint along where the old police station is. The road to too heavily traversed, and its narrow.
Herbert’s roads needs to be rebuilt, I don’t think anything else can be done with that other than to rebuild. All Saints Road, as a major thoroughfare, needs to be rebuilt! No more patching can save that road deh,
The minor roads in Sutherlands, SainJohnson Village, upper and lower Gambels… All need a good resurfacing
And the streets in the city and the sidewalks.
And for the love of God, abandon the idea of flushing the drains in the city and put in a proper sewage system jack!
Touch base with the environment division and ask them about what they did for the pilot project for the IWCAM project down in Yorks. All that info is there that can be built on so that government can come to a proper decision on how to deal with city sewage
And before I take my leave. The government NEEDS to move into modern times with respect to how the roads are built at intersections.
For some unknown reason, since I know myself, for the most part, where two roads intersect, you have a dip in the road to facilitate the flow of water. So cars are now going down in this dip, it damages cars and slows traffic at these intersections.
It makes far more sense to build the intersection to facilitate the flow of surface water to flow under the road, and the intersection is now level with the road.
Come in guys, this isn’t rocket science! Let’s be productive, and move forward to have this nation actually look like it belongs in this century.
I admit, I don’t expect to see much, if any at all of these implemented, but at least I put it out there
Have a great day everyone. My coffee is now getting cold
Look at roads in St.kitts and Dominican. How come with all the money the government claims it spends on roads the country still looks so. Appears to me the money not going in roads but somebody’s pocket. Fryes Hill Road was just rebuilt and look at the problems. Where all the money gone?
You asked:Where all the money garne? If not to BAHAMAS HOT MESS.THEN CHECK THE POCKETS OF THOSE HOLDING THE PURSE/WALLET OF THE COUNTRY.
Comments are closed.