Residents should not accept filthy conditions on the grounds of political loyalty, warns MP Smith

MP Anthony Smith, Jr. is expressing disgust at the unsightly and
dirty condition of the country and says it is time for the Antigua
Labour Party administration to go.
 
Smith, the United Progressive Party representative for All Saints
West, says the state of filth “is not only reprehensible, but a danger
to drivers and a health hazard to citizens, residents and visitors.”
 
Smith says one cannot help but notice the blocked and unsightly
drains; the unsanitary mounds of uncollected garbage in several
communities; the unswept gutters; and the overgrown vegetation all
around the island. 

And he accuses the Government of having allowed the City – the
tourism centre – to become a shantytown. 
The filth, he notes, provides the perfect stage for a breakout of
diseases and a breeding ground for vermin.

He also reminds residents that the unhealthy situation plaguing the
Nation affects us all, “regardless of age, economic status, health or
political affiliation, and it affects our development and our
economy,”
 
Accordingly, the Opposition MP says the Gaston Browne
Administration and, in particular “those responsible for the health,
wealth, safety, aesthetics, and fundamental cleaning of the country
should be ashamed of themselves.”
 
Instead of progressing, the country has retrogressed to a profound
low under this government, he laments.
However, Smith is warning Antiguans and Barbudans to guard
against acceptance of these conditions – on the grounds of partisan
politics and family loyalty – since the present state of their country
should never become the new normal. 
 
Rather, he says, they must hold the Government accountable for
what Antigua and Barbuda has become.
Smith is also making a call for the Browne Administration to allocate
and properly manage the country’s revenues in order to develop
and sustain the operations of the State and keep it cleaner.
 
However, he admits he is not optimistic that this Administration –
with its self-enrichment mindset – will do anything that would
translate to a people-centered government with progressive policies
to benefit citizens.