BPM have filed an injunction against the undemocratic decision-making process carried out at the meeting on Monday which appeared to force approval of the De Niro/Packer Paradise Found proposal.
The meeting at which Fabian Jones was arrested but not charged, microphones were turned up for those in favour of the project and down for those against, money was handed out to supporters and ‘voting’ was carried out in public on torn off sheets of notepads, only confirms the contempt those in power in Antigua have for Barbudans, including those who will facilitate this for little reward, maybe a new vehicle or a wad of cash is enough for some.
Comments under Antigua Observer articles about our action reflect the ignorance and spite encouraged by some Antiguans towards Barbudans – we are a self-determining people on an environmentally unique and prosperous island that hoped these days of conflict between us were long gone.
Cynical attempts to force Barbudans into accepting this cheap and destructive lease now means our economy will be trashed. Council workers remain unpaid and owed wages. In addition what was a perfectly good generator has been sabotaged at APUA so we are forced to share our electricity and water supply (half the village on, half the village off) after many years without any outtages at all, resulting in loss of business, empty shop freezers and frustration for our increasing number of visitors, just as it was under Lester Bird.
We already have to buy everything we use from Antiguan businesses and ship it here. We bank with an Antiguan bank. If we there we hire Antiguan vehicles and we stay in Antiguan guest houses. However, Barbudans around the world and many of our international visitors – who by default are environmentalists, activists and interested in the human rights of people worldwide – and some enlightened Antiguans, are supporting our struggle to stop this attack on our right to keep our common land, and for this we are encouraged.
