The United Progressive Party has defended its record and plans for tertiary education while raising ethical and financial concerns about a proposal for The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus to rent property owned by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party.
Upp Defends Its Tertiary
In a strongly worded statement, the UPP accused Foreign Affairs Minister and ABLP Chairman E.P. Chet Greene of misrepresenting criticism surrounding the university’s expansion and suggested his defence of the proposed rental arrangement was influenced by the financial benefit to his party.
The statement followed concerns raised by Nicolette Lewis about reported plans to use the ABLP-owned property to accommodate classes for UWI Five Islands’ growing law programme.
According to the UPP, Lewis expressed those concerns as a citizen and not in any official political capacity. The party said she welcomed the university’s continued development but asked legitimate questions about long-term planning, available space and the proposed rental arrangement.
“UWI is growing which is something we welcome and the introduction of the Law programme is another important step in that growth,” the statement quoted Lewis as writing.
The UPP rejected suggestions that either Lewis or the party opposed the growth of UWI Five Islands or expanded access to higher education.
It said its own tertiary-education vision predated the Browne Administration and involved creating a “University Village” at Coolidge that would incorporate several existing institutions, including Antigua State College, the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology and the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute.
The party said the former Spencer Administration was also open to establishing a landed UWI campus in Antigua and Barbuda. It claimed those plans were contained in a formal document inherited by former Education Minister Michael Browne when the ABLP entered office in 2014.
According to the statement, the proposed Coolidge development would have benefited from approximately 154 acres of land associated with the former United States military base. The UPP argued that the location could have accommodated additional faculties, student facilities, parking and future expansion.
The party also revisited the controversy surrounding the Five Islands property, maintaining that the facility was constructed under the UPP administration as a modern secondary school to reduce overcrowding at urban schools and improve teaching and learning conditions.
It said UWI served as a consultant on the Basic Education Project II, which recommended the construction of two schools, one at Five Islands and another at Tomlinsons.
The UPP insisted that its objection was never to the establishment of a UWI campus but to the conversion of what it described as a purpose-built secondary school.
It further argued that the Five Islands site had already experienced space limitations before its conversion into a university campus, prompting the former administration to acquire additional private land.
The party reserved its strongest criticism for the reported proposal that UWI Five Islands rent the Labour Party’s property for approximately EC$26,000 per month to accommodate law classes.
It alleged that the arrangement would effectively channel public funds, including contributions from Opposition supporters, into the governing political party.
The UPP described the proposal as ethically and financially troubling and said it risked compromising the perceived political independence of the university.
The party also claimed that Greene’s position as ABLP chairman created a potential conflict of interest and questioned whether the proposed arrangement offered the best value for taxpayers.
“No amount of faux outrage and political posturing will make this odious plan acceptable,” the UPP declared.
The statement also criticised Greene’s performance as Foreign Affairs Minister, linking him to recent concerns about Antiguans and Barbudans’ access to United States visas.
The UPP said citizens who contribute millions of dollars to support UWI have a legitimate interest in its success and should be allowed to question decisions concerning its growth and expenditure without being portrayed as opponents of education.
The statement did not include a response from Greene, the Labour Party or The UWI Five Islands Campus to the allegations surrounding the proposed rental arrangement.
