Returning nationals have joined disgruntled citizens and residents in expressing disappointment and dissatisfaction with Antigua’s water woes.
Several nationals returned home for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic to enjoy the Carnival festivities, but are complaining bitterly about the lack of water they experienced daily.
Government-supplied water was off for days at a time, they say – and when it came back on for a few minutes, it trickled from the tap at low pressure.
The visiting nationals tell REAL News they are still trying to work out how a country with so many Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants and 365 beaches could suffer so badly from a water shortage.
They say the Gaston Browne Administration needs to do much better, noting that when the leader travels to other countries – including those with no beaches – he is able to shower at least twice a day.
The returning nationals are hoping that, on their next visit home, the water issues will be fixed, and they remind PM Browne of his promise, in 2014, to improve the situation within 14 days of his party taking office.
Meanwhile, a resident says that water has been off in Golden Grove on all public holidays for the past eight years. “We need water back-pay, or water for 500 baths in 500 days,” he says sarcastically.
