By Carlena Knight Carlena.knight@antiguaobserver.com Motorists are being urged to be more patient as road works continue across Antigua. Complaints about the state of the country’s roads have been ongoing for years but while the national road rehabilitation project has seen some major highways resurfaced, others are still being worked on.…
The ‘Small Business Pull-up’ has become one of the raves in weekend entertainment as an organised group of United Progressive Party (UPP) supporters patronise eateries, bars, convenience stores and other enterprises in communities throughout Antigua and Barbuda. Since late August, this social gathering ventures to a different Constituency every Saturday,…
By Elesha George Elesha.george@antiguaobserver.com The United Progressive Party (UPP) has taken a head start over the ruling administration by commencing…
It was impressive
Spread the love
The stage was set for a big outing. Seemed, the United Progressive Party (UPP) was ready and
rarin’ to present its thoughts on where we ought to be headed in this Covid-19 period. The prevailing sentiment – one even shared by supporters of the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) – is that this administration has left Antiguans and Barbudans, the most vulnerable among us, to twist and be buffeted by the dreadful Covid winds. No relief. No Stimulus. No meaningful intercession on behalf of the poor in any number of areas.
Nada! So, as you can imagine, we were all waiting with bated breaths on the first-of-its-kind virtual public meeting, to hear a critique of this administration’s handling of the crisis, and plans for how the UPP could mitigate its dreadful effects on the lives and livelihoods of so many Antiguans and Barbudans.
Poor people can’t get a break
Spread the love
And the hits keep on coming. We’re referring to the persistent blows to the backs of the poor of this country. The latest is the distressing news from the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) that,
“Following the nine-month waiver of disconnections as part of APUA’s Covid-19 Relief Efforts,
disconnections of utility services for residential and commercial services will resume from February 1
st, 2021. To avoid disruption of service, customers are encouraged to settle accounts in arrears.” Sigh!
The big question is,
HOW! How the hell are they going to be able to settle arrears when they are still barely scratching out an existence with temporary jobs, because their permanent jobs are still on shutdown? How are they going to make good on their arrears when they have been severed, with no severance monies forthcoming? (see Jolly Beach and LIAT workers). Their savings are depleted. They have had to tighten their bel