Barbuda Affairs Minister Calls on Barbuda Council to Work Together

An olive branch of sorts has been extended to the Barbuda Council from Barbuda Affairs Minister EP Chet Greene for the upliftment of the sister isle.

While speaking on state media, Minister Greene called on the officials to put the tensions aside for the betterment of Barbuda.

He said it is time for the Gaston Browne-led administration and the Barbuda Council to come together.

“What we see in terms of relations, and the posture of the Barbuda Council is not sustainable. As a matter of fact, it is inimical to development. What is required is for a coming together, a meeting of the minds.

“There’s a committee set up by, jointly between the council and cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister and that committee is yet to meet. We had our first meeting. A second meeting was intended. Correspondence went off and somewhere along the line that didn’t happen, and I see no interest. Instead, what we see is the ramping up of hostilities, which again does no justice to the development trajectory in Barbuda or the interests of Antigua and Barbuda and so my call is for that meeting to take place so that we can have the issues ventilated. The matter has been subject to say for too long,” Greene said.

Some of the major issues include the land ownership program, the PLH Development and the airport.

Several Barbudans are adamant that they should continue to dwell on land following their regular practice of communal land, but the government has been undergoing an initiative which will give Barbudans, Antiguans and whomever else the opportunity to own a piece of the rock.