MP Watts inquires into unregistered St. George ‘alliance,’ alleged to be collecting rent for community facilities

“Who is the St. George Community Alliance?”  This is what MP Algernon Watts is asking, since efforts to find out which organisations or persons make up this group, so far, have been unsuccessful.

Speaking to the development needs of the St. George constituency, in Parliament on Monday, March 13, its representative reported that residents of the Barnes Hill-New Winthorpes community want to reclaim the building that used to be their community centre.

According to Watts, a pre-school is now housed in the facility, and its owner has indicated she is paying rent for the property – to the St. George Community Alliance.

Further, Watts reports that the operators in the commercial space erected on the Potters Main Road also claim they are renting from the same entity – and making their monthly payments at the branch office of former Antigua Labour Party MP Dean Jonas.

Reportedly, one of these spaces – constructed when Dr. Jacqui Quinn was the constituency representative – was utilized as an office for Jonas, himself.  It is not known whether – following his defeat in the January 18 elections – Jonas still occupies the office.

Meanwhile, Watts says that a search at the Intellectual Property Office has revealed that no such entity has been registered.  Accordingly, he is asking who purports to own these buildings and who is collecting the monies for their use.

No response – including points of elucidation – was made by Jonas’ former colleagues on the Government Bench.