DNA calls for integrity in public life, ABLP officials under fire

“When an individual decides to make a personal choice to become a public figure your life by and large is public; the public has a right to ask questions.”
MP Joanne Massiah, leader of the Democratic National Alliance, in expressing the view, said that inaction by Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) officials to clarify their personal issues that reached the public domain is not good enough.
“What exists right now, does not give any comfort to the public, or to persons who really want to see Antigua and Barbuda move away from this banana republic that we’re known to be,” Massiah told OBSERVER media yesterday.
With reference to the multi-million-dollar payout that Sir Robin Yearwood must dispense to his ex-wife, Massiah said that when you compare what a parliamentarian or a minister of government would have been earning back in 1976, when she believes that Sir Robin came into office, his expenses would have been similar to the ordinary person.
The MP added that Minister Yearwood could have been a person, who invested strategically. She, however, opined that through effective operation of the integrity in public life legislation, which should entail that public officials be mandated to disclose their assets at designated periods, the minister could justify the seemingly unexplained wealth.
“Unless he inherited some wealth that we do not know about, I believe Sir Robin has questions to answer,” she said.
As the Freeland saga continues, Massiah said that we have gotten accustomed to politicians doing “as they like” and not reporting to the public.
She asked whether and when did Freeland report the “purported theft of this money, and the break-into his vehicle to the police”.
She also asked: “Which mechanic repaired the broken glass to his vehicle?”
Massiah added: “His silence, really is eroding whatever confidence some persons may have in him, and really leading to greater speculation.”