UPP calls for ‘conversation and not confrontation’ on Barbuda
The United Progressive Party (UPP) is calling on the Gaston Browne Administration to make every effort to de-escalate the current situation on Barbuda by calling off the Riot Squad that was deployed to the sister-island yesterday, January 24.
“There never was a good war or a bad peace,” reminds Political Leader Jamale Pringle. Now, more than ever, Pringle says,“dialogue with the Barbudans and sensitivity to their feelings and their lifestyle are needed, instead of a show of force.”
It appears to the UPP that the Administration is intent on ignoring not only the wishes of the people but the lawful authority of the Barbuda Council to administer the island.
Government has an overarching obligation to protect the rights of citizens and residents – above the personal ambitions of its ministers and the business interests of investors. Therefore, it cannot be right for the Browne Administration to arbitrarily displace Barbudans – and, especially, to bulldoze their farmlands – to create a housing project that brings no benefit to them.
Accordingly, we call on Prime Minister Browne and Public Safety Minister Steadroy “Cutie” Benjamin to stop the aggression that now threatens the lives and livelihood of our Barbudan brothers and sisters and to respect their human rights and traditions.
No good – locally or internationally – can come from a situation in which a government declares war on its own people. Stop the confrontation and start a conversation now.
In the meantime, the UPP stands with the Barbuda Council and the People of Barbuda in defense of their land rights and traditions, as was codified in the Barbuda Land Act, 2007, and it calls on all patriotic Antiguans to do the same.
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This statement is demonstrative of the duplicity and dishonesty that follows the UPP and is one of the reasons the party has lost support and credibility. The party is calling on the government to deescalate the situation but is not calling on the Barbuda Council to ABIDE BY THE LAW.
In a case taken by the Barbuda Council to the Privy Council, the ruling made it clear that ALL government owned land in Antigua and Barbuda is vested in the CROWN. The government of Antigua and Barbuda owns the land, not the Barbuda Council. Any statement that does not acknowledge and reinforce this fact CANNOT be taken seriously.
The UPP is clearly a party that cannot be taken seriously when such statements are issued and there is deliberate omission of the cause of the nonsense in Barbuda: the Barbuda Council wants to create its personal fiefdom and disregard the laws of the land. This MUST NOT be allowed to happen.
LAWLESS UPP!!
No matter whatever the ruling, the government would’ve still gone ahead and did whatever it has done because of its lawless intentions and practices. The Money-Hawk is a convicted criminal because of lawlessness. Incase you pretend to forgive; I remind you of the Labour Day matter.