Browne Administration lacked foresight in handling Alfa Nero matter and should have sought local feedback, Spencer chides

Former Prime Minister Dr. Baldwin Spencer says the Gaston Browne
Administration lacked foresight in its handling of the Alfa Nero
situation.

As it stands now, Spencer says, this situation could turn out to be an
embarrassment for the country, propelled by the greed of the
Antigua Labour Party Government.
 
He says the Administration’s approach to the Alfa Nero matter is
unacceptable and not the way in which a government should be run.

Spencer says the Government needed to organize itself in such a
way that it connected with the people from the get-go. It ought to
have shared with residents its own views about the vessel being left
in this jurisdiction and then sought to get the people’s feedback, he
says.
 
The Opposition parliamentarians were given a raw deal and not
treated with the dignity they deserve, Spencer adds. Nor were they
treated fairly when they were prevented from engaging in proper
consultation ahead of contributing in the Lower House.  
 
Overall, the former prime minister says, the country’s image on the
international stage has been diminished.

This administration moved to lay claim to the Russian oligarch-
owed yacht by making amendments to the Port Authority Act.
 
The vessel was left in the Falmouth Harbour in February 2022, after
the United States began to place sanctions on the possessions of
Russian oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin because of the war
being waged on Ukraine by Russia.
 
However, after the vessel was acquired by the Government through
the Act of Parliament, and then auctioned, several people have
challenged the sale, including the daughter of the reported original
owner.
 
Eric Schmidt, a former Google executive, had won the bid for the
purchase of the vessel to the tune of US$67.6 million. He has since
backed out of the agreement due to the court challenges.