The United Progressive Party (UPP) is promising taxpayers that, once re-elected to office, it will take every step to ensure their money is spent prudently and they will know exactly where it is being spent.
Political Leader Harold Lovell notes it was the UPP that introduced national consultations on the economy, which were held regularly, up until 2013 before the general elections.
He recalls that consultations were had with members of the business community, the trade unions, and other interest groups to seek their input on the budget to be presented the following year.
Events like these demonstrate to taxpayers how their monies are being spent, Lovell says.
The Political Leader says the UPP is committed to continuing such programmes to ensure transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, Lovell says the people are not yet aware of the gravity of the Browne Administration’s mismanagement of their finances.
He was referring to the EC$540 million bond that the Government took out on July 31, 2021 – without making it known to the people or taking it to the Parliament.
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Harold you have no authority to speak of accountability.. Crawl back under your rock.
Starrie..how you know that? I was just going to as whether what took place with the construction of the ADOMS building playing on he mind.
@ Starrie
So the issue is that this wicked government borrow HALF A BILLION DOLLARS FOR GOD KNOWS WHAT, AND DID IT IN SECRET WITHOUT PARLIAMENT APPROVAL……..QUESTIONS:
– WHAT WAS THE MONEY USED FOR WHEN POOR PEOPLE CANNOT EVEN GET HOSPITAL SERVICES, BAD, BAD, BAD ROADS, NO WATER, GASOLINE SKY HIGH…….WHERE DID THE MONEY GO? IN THEPOCKETS OF THE ABLP FOR THEIR CAMPAIGN?
AND YOU MINIONS DON’T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT?
THIS IS A SCANDAL OF MAGNANAMOUS PROPORTIONS!!!!!!!
THIS EVIL, EVIL, EVIL, WICKED GOVERNMENT
EVIL
EVIL
EVIL
EVIL
EVIL
EVIL
EVIL
AND WICKED
How was it a secret when Weston said so at the start of the Pandemic. Winston said “the Government was smart enough to secure up to half billion dollars” and the same upp laughed and said it was not true and the government was planning to get IMF money and all sort of foolishness
He said it on Big Issues Program.
@ Starrie, just throwing “sound-bites” without any explanation is absolutely meaningless … BACK-UP YOUR WORDS NAH!
ADOMS was fraught with corruption and kick back.
well said!!!
The secret $540 million Reliance Partners bond taken out in June 2021 COST US 8 TIMES MORE THAN THE IMF LOAN!
Double the borrowed amount at 4 times the interest! Put that in your dunce ALP pipe and smoke it.
We demand accountability on that!
Why was this not taken to parliament?
What was the money used for?
People got no relief. Businesses got no emergency protection, like the US PPP loans.
The single mothers were told no help for you… y’all will waste the money and starve the pickenaga.
So to hell with you talking about accountability when your tiefing ABLP overlords have none.
#RedDead
Vote Dem Out!
If we borrow IMF money gas price would go to $24ecd per gallon like in Barbados.
Typical of crookish Gaston. He is an authority on every other project, except the ones that the people have elected him to do. He says we have to keep our eyes on ECAB, but Gaston is the one we need to watch.
We only discovered that a bond failed when it was raised in Parliament a few weeks ago. But we didn’t know that a previous bond had been floated and the deal sealed.
As run down as Antigua is and with all the CIP money collected, how is all this money being spent. Gaston needs to come clean.
Hey Starrie, You are a nothing but a jumby crab , you are the one living under a rock.
Mr. Lovell a beg you please keep shining the Light in the Darkest of places.
So this means we won’t get stuff like this in the news?
Reports are that four employees of the Transport Board including the son of a high ranking official have been suspended.
The employees are alleged to have been making illegal permits and licenses without applicants going through the correct process.
The employees are due to return to work on September 15th, but it is alleged that the son of the top ranking official has been transfered from the ABTB.
I am not even going to respond to these delusional bloggers, but let me state just two of the many dunce things HAROLD LOVELL did. He gave Sandals Hotel a waiver of 10.5 % of the ABST on drinks for years , robbing the treasury of millions. It was only when GB took over that Antiiguans got wind of that. Secondly, he sat in a cabinet that placed $58 million into ECAB and got only 25% of the shares , whilst some local banks along with some overseas placed $18 million and got 75 %. Me a beg aryu just lowe me.. and I am not even going to touch Romantic Rhythm , the ADOMS building, or the 1.2 billion dollar them say them spend on roads. YOU’ALL GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE TO DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE INSTEAD OF GETTING THAT ALBATROSS FROM AROUND UPP’S NECK!!! ENOUGH SAID.. YOU’ALL CAN CONTINUE HARPING NOW , I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WASTE.
@ Starrie
Lets talk about GASTON AND HIS SON FLIPPING LAND. WHAT HAROLD AND UPP GAVE TO SANDALS CANNOT BE COMPARED TO WHAT ABLP GAVE TO YIDA AND WESTERN IMPERIAL. AN INVESTOR MUST BE LURED WITH INCENTIVES, AND RIGHT NOW SANDALS DON’T WANT TO TALK TO DESPERATE ABLP. YOU GUYS KEEP BEGGING MR STUART BUT Y’ALL NOT GETTING ANY INVESTMENT FROM DEM. THE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS GIVEN TO YIDA CANNOT BE COMPARED TO INCENTIVES GIVEN TO SANDALS.
YOU SIMPLY CANNOT DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE – GASTON AND ABLP DECEPTIVELY OBTAINED A BOND OF EC$540,000,000 ON THE HEAD OF ANTIGUANS AND WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE HALF OF BILLION WAS USED FOR……
IF YOU NOTICE YOU CANNOT EVEN DENY IT. I LISTENED INTENTLY TO THE PM ON THE WEEKEND AND NOT A DRUM WAS HEARD BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH, HE COULD NOT DENY CHEATING THE 90,000 ANTIGUANS OF US$200,000,000 OR EC$540,000,000….DO YOU KNOW THE AMOUNT OF ROADS THIS MONEY COULD FIX? THE SCHOOL PLANTS NEEDING REPAIRS, WATER IN THE DRY PIPES, ALEVIATING HUNGER FOR POOR PEOPLE IN POINT AND VILLA BY PROVIDING RELIEF FOR THE EXHORBITANT COST OF LIVING?
ANTIGUA IS A HELL HOLE IN WHICH ONLY PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND THE OTHER MINIOS FLOURISH THROUGH DRINKING FROM THE TROUGH AND ROBBING POOR POOR PEOPLE.
JUST REMEMBER WHAT A MAN SOWS HE SHALL REAP…….GASTON THINKS HES INVINCIBLE BUT HE WILL BECOME LIKE NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND BE MADE TO EAT GRASS AND HUMBLED.
HE MAY THINK HE HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE WITH HIS ILL GOTTEN GAINS, BUT NO ONE KNOWS THE FUTURE, CAUSE IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE EVERYTHING HE OWNS CAN JUST DISAPPEAR. HE AND ABLP WILL REAP WHAT THEY SOW.
GET RID A DEM
Did Gaston and his son flip government lands?
And with regards to Sandals how can you compare that to YIDA.
Sandals collected our monies from the guests and kept 65% of it. And that while Sandals also enjoys all the same incentives for having made investment. 25 years free from corporation tax- and duty-free concessions. YIDA got concessions for investments. They’re not holding our monies. And those concessions are available for everyone that wants to make a sizeable investment in the country. That is how countries attract FDI.
JOKER!
The Sandals ABST waiver was 100% lawful, and done to keep Sandal’s total concessions in line with what was agreed with Lester Bird before the tax regime changed with the introduction of ABST.
By the way, if ABST waiver is illegal, talk to Gaston about HIS ABST waiver. He proudly said he waved ALL ABST to PLH… but “don’t worry, we will get it back later when the project matures.” Check his speech at the WIOC ECSE listing ceremony.
You Labour brown-nosers are too lie. And you are PISS-POOR LIARS at that.
Also, the 50 million cost overrun at ADOMS and Treasury Building took place under 5+ YEARS OF LABOUR RULE. Y’all are so bright, but you blame a government long out of power for YEARS of YOUR OVERSPENDING?
Needless to day, there is not one single truth in what you have written.
#RedDead
Vote Dem out!
Now that’s better @ Starrie, this is what healthy debating is all about. Once you explain where you are coming from people will understand you more.
We may or may not disagree with your viewpoints, but at least you have one … 🤜🤛
VEX YOU VEX Y’ALL TROUGH DRIED UP!! TELL HAROLD LOVELL WIN HIS SEAT!! A BAPE Y’ALL GONNA BE IN OPPOSITION AGAIN. TEK DAT IN YOU NENEN!!
Starrie why don’t you respond to the issues raised. Talk about the $540 million borrowed that we did not know about. Senator Damani Tabor said it was a secret and the DUNCE Senator Phillip Should said how could it be a secret and Senator Tabor saw it in the Estimates. Senator Shoul the $540 million should have been raised in Parliament and not just clandestinely put in the Estimates. That is the point you DUNCES on Pointe FM need to understand. Another thing Gaston and his government need to tell us how the money was spent. IT IS CALLED ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT.
… and you were doing so well @ Starrie and then you resort to uneducated tirades.
Is this another typical generational ABLP response?
Promises! Promises! Promises! The OL and his Party will ensure all their Antiguans and Barbudans supporters enter the Pearly Gates when they die (LOL). Can any party PROVIDE Water, Electricity on a consistent basis under a Government entity without being the middle man? The Ministers and Top Management at APUA are ALL stinking rich from the GoF who are enablers to our Politicians of FLEECING the country of it’s Finances. God Help Us All!! Wicked set ah people.
We desperately need a 2nd party in A&B. When I listen to both major political parties, I hsve to conclude that they take us for fools. The same party that went to Italy and entered into an agreement with Devcon and never shared the details with the public, they have the balls to talk about not doing things properly? The then Finance Minister, Erol Cort, said that he was not at liberty to share the details with the public.
Both parties better learn that we don’t have short memories like they wish. SMDH
Son of Mami_Wata & Papa_Elegba CHRISTened #Jumbee_Picknee at life’s #CrossRoad known as SWASTIKA & SQUARE says….
Harold Lovell, a promise is a comfort to a fool. How about you use your legal expertise.along with others like Tabor et al, take the present Ruling Arm of the Government, the ABLP to Court and force them to give us the #ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY, of which you speak, since laws are already on the books to make sure, that such happens.
Talk! Talking Blues! Like a #Talking, #Bobbing Head doll ain’t fooling nobody.
Jumbee_Picknee
Men were fronting and getting excess fat when ADOMS was constructed and these fat were passed on to he who is now speaking highly and holy about transparency and no secret deals. Gimme a bruk!!!!
What do they say about a promise? It’s a comfort to a fool. Antigua people are no fool. We have been there before and we ain’t going back there anytime soon. At least not with the same player. Lovell you are a spend force. Your words and promises mean not a single thing. Perhaps we should refresh your memory on promises made and not kept the last 10 years you were in office. We don’t need new taxes, there are enough taxes on the books. Promise made promise failed. Government in the Sunshine will be as transparent as was ever seen before. How many cabinet briefings did you gave?
Tabling of the annual government accounts in Parliament. How many did you table in Parliament? ZERO. Special Warrant tabling in Parliament every year. How many did you table in Parliament? ZERO. Spending within the Budget. How much money did you spend over the budget in the ten years? Over one BILLION Dollars. That works out to be on average 100 million dollars annually over budget. And you, Harold, want to come and tell us about transparency and tell us how our monies have been spent. Just tell us the little ones first. Please account for the seven million dollars spent on Romantic Rhythm. Please account for the spending of millions of our tax dollars on building fences around playfields. Account for how a bathroom at JASCO can cost us over $600K and not even finish. Tell us how it was possible to spend over one billion dollars in roads around and in St. John’s which to date is not visible. All we see is Ratta condominiums. Harold, tell us why a runway that was estimated to cost US$45million ended up costing over US$90million. Harold, please tell us, why you signed a loan with Credit Swiss at a rate of 13% which is higher than any other commercial loan on the books of this country. And that without even having an out-clause in there. Harold there is plenty more we can name, but last of it, tell us how come buses given to this Nation buy the People’s Republic of South Korea ended up in your and two of your colleagues’ private names and used for personal gain. How is that?
Harold, you are unfit to hold any public office from now on. It’s best if you resign or wait till election is called and be fired for good. It will be your embarresment.
From The Sideline. my advice to you is to be bold and ask your question directly to Harold Lovell when he is on the radio stations inviting you to call with your questions and concerns.
Don’t be a wimp.
Take this from a avid traveler,investor,and loving outsider to beautiful A&B. Antigua is at it’s breaking point, so you’ll better get this right. I don’t know any politician in Antigua personally, but we who have major interest in this beautiful island, are watching and hoping you’ll get it right this election, because everything that will become of Antigua is riding on this Election. I am telling you’ll, Antigua is serious dangling on the edge. Love you’ll.
Correction: seriously.
Bye Bye. Wheel and come again.
From The Sideline. my advice to you is to be bold and ask your question directly to Harold Lovell when he is on the radio stations inviting you to call with your questions and concerns.
Don’t be a wimp.
Wha he finally try to copy cat Gaston! It’s about time he came and faced the people.
FTS, you are clowning around now. Who does Gaston face? His minions who called in on his radio station? C oneal made it known that he is in it for the $$$$$$. He asked the Dawg the questions and keep laughing, even when he himself is being insulted by his response.
It’s a call in program. Anyone can call in. And you can also WhatsApp your questions to the PM. And to date many have been calling in from all political sides. Lovell has longtime avoided the public
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