Aabigayle McIntosh

The Public Works Department is being commended for the reintensified efforts to tackle road repairs in the country.

The Department has ramped up efforts including the introduction of night crews to get the job done on the major roadways.

During Thursday post-Cabinet media briefing Cabinet congratulated Works Minister Maria Brown for overseeing extensive repairs to heavily used roads and intersections.

The renewed effort also came after Prime Minister Gaston Browne issued the riot act to Public Works Director Aldin Crump to perform or go home.

Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst explains the Director did just that.

“And he did.  And further, what the director has done is to conduct his own public relations rather than rely upon the PR work of the person in the ministry who is responsible. To minimize disruptions, repair teams have also worked at night to ensure minimal daytime traffic congestion”.

Cabinet notes the successful collaboration between the Antigua Public Utilities Authority, (APUA), and the Ministry of Public Works has been pivotal in these efforts.

“Broken pipes beneath the surface of the roads is the concern of the APUA. But he can’t fix the surface unless the pipes are fixed. So at the corner there at YMCA, just across from the government house, there were broken pipes and he fixed, APUA fixed them both”, Hurst said.

“The moment APUA was through fixing them, Public Works could move in and finish the surface”.

The Minister of Works also highlights the importance of compensating workers for their llate-night efforts and says Cabinet has decided to allocate funds to ensure that workers are compensated.

“Their overtime pay. The Minister of Works spoke about the importance of now ensuring that those workers receive the overtime that they are due. And Cabinet took the decision that they must be paid the overtime, and as a consequence, have set aside sums to make payments to them”.