The Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Hon Jamale Pringle, has criticized the government over continuous delays in the dredging project at the St John’s Harbour and Crabb’s Peninsula.
In a recent interview, Pringle expressed frustration with the government’s poor planning and failure to hold contractors accountable for repeated setbacks.
In recent weeks, the government has sought to allay concerns over continuous delays at the two project sites.
Last week, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Lionel Hurst revealed that the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) will begin to finance the dredging operations in the North Sound area currently being undertaken by Blue Ocean, to boost LNG imports.
“The government is only now expressing concern about these delays after so many years, when we have been asking about the expected completion timeline since the first year,” said Pringle.
“They should have done all the necessary studies upfront to understand what challenges they would encounter,” he said
The dredging work, contracted to Blue Ocean Marine, has been plagued by delays spanning over six years.
Despite this, the government has indicated it does not plan to penalize the company, citing its 40 percent ownership stake as a factor.
Pringle argued that the government’s poor management is costing taxpayers heavily.
“Every fee and tax increase under this government ends up hurting us, the people, because businesses pass on their higher operating costs to consumers,” he said. “The government needs to stop going after people who cannot afford it and instead [call on] the investors profiting off the country’s resources to contribute more.”
