By Shermain Bique-Charles
A book that highlights the major achievements of the United Progressive Party (UPP) during its decade in government is now available to the public following its launch yesterday.
Entitled ‘UPP’s Major Achievements’, it is billed as a complete record of the main opposition party’s policies, programmes, and achievements.
It features a comprehensive account of the UPP’s performance and legacy track record during its two terms in office from 2004 to 2014.
Leader of the UPP Harold Lovell described the book as a valuable historical document for the younger generation.
“It is for younger people a tool for historical perspective to give them a correct view of the history of Antigua and Barbuda, because in many ways, this is a historical document where we can refer to specific things.
“This will be remembered for the time to come. There is not, on record, any other political party in the Eastern Caribbean where they have taken the trouble to document all the things they have done,” Lovell said.
He continued that the book also creates an opportunity for introspection.
“For me, looking at the document, we can see those things that we did well, we can look at the things we could have improved upon. When you take this document, it allows us to go back and remind ourselves about those things which we still need to enlarge upon,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said the book also highlights the transition period between the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) and the UPP.
“It is important for the younger generation to have a better understanding and appreciation of what the UPP would have done to bring us to a point where we were able to achieve so many things during those 10 years,” Spencer said.
The book was a collaboration between several members of the UPP, with both former and present leaders contributing data.
The official launch took place at the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union headquarters on lower Newgate Street.