ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has denied instructing the Development Control Authority (DCA) to prevent anyone from constructing billboards ahead of the general election but said he would hope the regulator would ensure that “no one is above the law.”
“I am saying here we will never instruct any regulatory authority, but we expect every regulatory authority to ensure that those who they regulate operate within the confines of the law, and where they breach the laws of the country, they are expected to take appropriate action. This is a country of laws,” Browne told Parliament.
He was responding to a statement made by the embattled former government legislator and parliamentary representative for St. Peter, Asot Michael, who told legislators that Browne had sought to prevent the DCA from approving his request for the construction of billboards as the island prepares for a general election, constitutionally due in March 2023, but widely expected to be held before that date.
The ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) has already indicated that Michael would not be allowed to contest the polls as part of its slate of candidates for the 17-seat Parliament and has named a replacement for him.
But Michael, who is likely to contest the election as an independent candidate, has taken the matter to court.\
“I found in my office, Mr. Prime Minister, the letter that you wrote when you were the leader of the opposition when the UPP (United Progressive Party) was in power for 296 billboards…signed by you…and it was approved in two days.
“Two days the DCA approved it …what I am trying to say…I am returning to this House whether it is on the Labour Party ticket, and it might very well be on the Labour Party ticket if the case is still outstanding,” Michael said.
But Browne, the ABLP leader, insisted that his administration has not given any directive to the DCA to place stop orders on the construction of any billboards.
“So Mr. Asot Michael has sought to construct 62 (billboards) 16 by 32 billboards. These are the huge ones, which is excessive, nonsense, and he has done so without the approvals; one of them is actually blocking his opponent’s billboard that was there for over a year, and another is blocking the view of traffic”,
Browne said that his ABLP had to apply over a year ago and re-apply to get approval. “Asot Michael is not above the law, and I would have spoken to it publicly because I have knowledge of it.”
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