Member of Parliament for St. John’s Rural West Richard Lewis has publicly refuted claims made by Prime Minister Gaston Browne regarding land applications submitted by United Progressive Party MPs.
Lewis responded to statements made by Browne on Pointe FM, where the Prime Minister allegedly misrepresented facts about land applications. According to Lewis, the Prime Minister falsely claimed that the land he applied for overlooks the Royalton resort.
“The land in question is in a valley close to Pensioner’s, and not overlooking Royalton as he maliciously claimed. As a matter of fact, neither Royalton nor any sea can be seen from there,” Lewis stated in his press release.
The Rural West representative condemned what he described as a deliberate attempt by the Prime Minister to damage his reputation.
“This is yet another one of PM Browne’s hard efforts to dishonour my name. Is it that only PM Browne and those he chooses should have access to land in Antigua?”
Lewis further criticized Browne’s behaviour during his radio appearances, stating, “PM Browne, who is the leader of this nation, must stop this distasteful habit of decimating the characters and persona of Antiguans and Barbudans for sport when he gets on his radio station on Saturdays.”
The MP clarified that the land application process is guided, not arbitrary as suggested by the Prime Minister. Lewis indicated that a government surveyor recommended the area as the only one in Rural West available for distribution, and took them to visit the site.
Lewis also revealed that he was later informed that all lands in that area were earmarked for development and that he should seek alternatives. He added that Cabinet has reportedly decided he can apply for half an acre instead of the full acre mentioned in his original application.
The MP questioned whether the Prime Minister was creating different standards for land access, referencing Browne’s own land acquisitions. “Everyone knows he got three acres of land in the English Harbour area at about EC$0.50 per sq. ft. He subsequently sold approximately 1/2 acre of those lands for hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Lewis alleged.
The MP went on to call for greater transparency in the process of Crown land acquisition by parliamentarians and suggested that all benefits for elected officials should be legislated to eliminate secrecy.
The land policy for Members of Parliament, which Lewis described as predating both the current administration and the previous UPP government, allows MPs to purchase up to one acre of land at concessionary rates.
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