By Robert A Emmanuel
After many years of what could only be described as a tense relationship between Antigua and sister isle Barbuda, the newly-appointed Minister of Barbuda Affairs hopes that his diplomatic skills — developed through his work as Foreign Affairs Minister – may melt any frozen ties between the two islands.
In his first official visit to Barbuda following his appointment, Minister Chet Greene met with members of the Barbuda Council in a bid to reset the relationship between central government and the Barbuda Council.
Minister Greene said he was satisfied with how the initial talks went and hoped that there were more areas of compromise between the two parties.
“The spirit of cordiality is what I take away from this meeting; as one person would have remarked, the time is now to heal wounds and move forward in a spirit of togetherness,” Minister Greene said.
Despite Antigua and Barbuda being a twin island state, the two islands’ relationship has been on turbulent waters following the harsh exchange of words in recent years between the Gaston Browne-led Cabinet and the Barbuda People’s Movement-led Barbuda Council. Much of the contention surrounds bitter debate over land ownership in Barbuda.
At the meeting, Chairman of the Barbuda Council, Mackenzie Frank, Barbuda representative Trevor Walker, Parliamentary Secretary for Barbuda, Knacyntar Nedd, and other members of the Barbuda Council met with Minister Greene laying out the priorities for all parties.
“We looked at a number of issues, the whole question of infrastructure, financing, vocational training…and I found that, in a number of instances, there were a number of matters that can be easily dealt with by the central government, and other matters that would have to be referred back to the Cabinet,” Minister Greene explained.
Frank said other areas discussed with the minister included “arrears of wages and salaries, the transfer grant being presented to the Council in a timely manner, and very serious infrastructural issues”.
Greene said he would request from Cabinet that a review of an agreement between the Barbuda Council and the central government be revisited as certain sections, he said, were outdated.
“The Barbuda economy is emerging and evolving, we all agreed to that, and so the question of putting in place a technical study to see what elements of this build-out of the economy in Barbuda can be looked at…to better manage the affairs of the Barbuda Council [is important],” Greene added.
Frank also noted that a lot of work was needed to be done in Barbuda, and that discussions were robust and frank, but amicable.
