LETTER: A Community’s Cry for Help

Dear Editor,

We as a community are writing to publicly express our deep frustration and disappointment felt by the soon-to-be residents of Donovan’s Estate, an area where land was sold under the current Government of Antigua and Barbuda’s Land for Youth Initiative nearly five years ago.

To date, the conditions in Donovan’s Estate are nothing short of deplorable. The roads are practically non-existent unpaved, dangerously uneven, and completely impassable after rainfall. These are not just inconveniences; they are daily hazards for those who have invested in building their futures here. The neglect is glaring and inexcusable.

Despite numerous calls, WhatsApp messages, and formal appeals, including attempted meetings with both Ministers Maria Browne-Bird and Rawdon Turner, we are yet to receive a meaningful response. Any engagement that did not occur face-to-face was ignored. This level of disregard for citizens who answered the government’s call to invest in their country through this initiative is a slap in the face.

We were promised opportunity, support, and infrastructure. What we’ve received instead is silence, stagnation, and roads that can’t be driven on. It is disheartening that the same government that promoted the Land for Youth Initiative as a step toward empowerment is now turning its back on the very people it encouraged.

We are not asking for miracles. We are demanding what is owed to us: basic infrastructure to make the land we purchased livable. These cries have gone unanswered for far too long, and we are no longer willing to suffer in silence.

It is time for the relevant authorities to take responsibility and take action. We will not stop raising our voices until something is done.

Sincerely,

Prospective Residents of Donovan’s Estate