Prime Minister Gaston Browne delivered an uncompromising warning in Parliament on Monday, announcing that the $50,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the arson of APUA fiber-optic materials in Old Road will stand indefinitely, and those responsible could face prosecution years from now.

“We have already extended a reward of $50,000, and it stands indefinitely for anyone who has information that will result in the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who burnt APUA’s material.”

“And I want to remind the member from All Saints East and Saint Luke and others…that criminal action, criminal behavior, is not statute barred… there’s no way that this country is going to descend into lawlessness and anarchy.” Browne declared, adding that he would bypass the Attorney General if necessary to deploy the riot squad to deal with what he termed “lawless people.”

Prime Minister Gaston Browne

The parliamentary address followed weekend comments on his radio program where he blamed Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle for the fire that destroyed thousands of dollars worth of APUA telecommunications equipment.

“Based on the threats that were made by Pringle, the fact that there was a fire subsequently, Pringle ought to take responsibility for that. If he did not burn those things himself or cause them to be burnt, he would have incited others to do so,” Browne stated over the weekend.

The Prime Minister expressed surprise that Pringle has not been questioned by police regarding the incident.

The tensions erupted after the Development Control Authority demolished Pringle’s $65,000 US tent structure at Morris Bay earlier this week. The tent had been used by Old Road residents to raise funds for beach maintenance.

Aftermath of DCA removal enforcement of Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle’s tent at Morris Bay

Browne defended the demolition, arguing that Pringle had cemented the tent poles into the ground, making it a permanent rather than temporary structure. He accused the opposition leader of deliberately creating chaos by refusing to cooperate with authorities.

The DCA had ordered Pringle to remove the structure and gave him notice to comply. While Pringle maintains the authority had agreed to delay action pending consultations, the government moved to demolish the structure after he repeatedly challenged them to do so in Parliament.

Following the tent’s removal, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority’s Telecoms Business Unit reported that work on a subsea cable landing at Morris Bay was halted after crews discovered conduits and other materials deliberately set on fire. Preliminary assessments put the damage at several thousand dollars.

The Prime Minister questioned what justice residents were seeking by supporting illegal occupation of Crown land and monopolizing a public beach. He called the burning of APUA materials “ignorance, dunceness, moronic behavior,” noting that residents had destroyed equipment meant to bring broadband services to their own community.