The Big Issues

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley secures another 30-seat victory in the snap elections recently held in Barbados, meaning that her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has again denied the opposition even a single seat. In this episode we ask why she and the BLP won so convincingly, and we ask whether the same resounding victory for the incumbent is likely to happen in Antigua and Barbuda as well.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 23rd, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Laid off LIAT workers have started the new year (2022) with no resolution to the question of severance and entitlements owed to them by the defunct company. Many former employees here are pointing the finger at the government of Antigua and Barbuda, a major shareholder. But the government here says it isn't interested in pumping any more money into meeting the obligations of a doomed entity beyond all that it has already sank into the company over so many years. 

Despite its tradition as a shareholder government of coming to the rescue whenever LIAT is in turmoil, it's made it clear for months now that this time, the same relief is not going to be extended. But what does that mean for workers? It means they continue to wait to collect their severance and entitlements out of whatever will be leftover from the ongoing resolution of LIAT's assets and debts, whenever that happens. 

In the meantime - which has been a very long meantime thus far - the government is deflecting blame for the collapse of the airline, heaping responsibility instead on pilots, unions, other governments and management. The unions are decrying the government's position as cruel, asking that it accept responsibility  for meeting its defunct company's obligation to former workers. Both parties spar in the media over the issue. 

Recently though, the government has offered a partial life raft to former workers in the form of "compassionate" payout packages to support them financially, but is doing so unilaterally, and seemingly without wishing to be drawn in to any arrangement in which it acknowledges a concrete obligation to do so on the basis of its stake in the defunct company. On this episode we ask: What is LIAT’s position now? And is an amicable resolution any closer to being realized?

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 23rd, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guest is:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

A controversy erupts over a roadside shop in Parham demolished by order of the Development Control Authority. The young men who owned it say they are being stifled while trying to make a living. The DCA says the men went far beyond what they were authorized to do, and they were given fair warning that the structure needed to come down. So in our first segment we ask: What should we make of the incident? And can we avoid disenfranchising small traders, even as we strengthen planning and development control?

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 23rd, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

A wave of COVID-19 infections moving forward in many Caribbean islands, including in Antigua and Barbuda. At the same time, the Omicron variant has been detected in a number of islands as well. We ask: How does Omicron differ from past variants? And what will it mean for the COVID-19 situation here in A&B and in the wider Caribbean region?

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 16th, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

The current debate over the legacy of the late former Premier and national hero Sir George Walter, sparked by an attack on Sir George by the Prime Minister Gaston Browne, has exposed the challenge of agreeing on the legacies of national icons amidst pervasive political tribalism and the dominance of rhetoric. In this episode, we ask: What must be done to overcome these often politically charged disputes over legacies in the public psyche?

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 16th, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne is being accused of side dealing. It has emerged that Browne and his son each signed separate deals with a wealthy Indian investor, "Mr. Singh" to rent to Mr. Singh properties in Jolly Harbour and in Villa, for US $20,000 a month, and US $12,000 a month respectively. The first of these deals - the one between PM Browne and Mr. Singh - was singed a mere three days after the PM issued a license order to Mr. Singh's company for a new and highly controversial special economic zone (SEZ). In real terms, PM Browne and his son together will earn XCD $1.036 million dollars a year from these two deals with Mr. Singh in addition to upfront payments. 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 16th, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

More Background:

As a professed millionaire businessman, Gaston Browne is accustomed to making business deals with anyone he wants. But as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and as the only PM to have ever publicly encouraged ministers to "enrich" themselves "legitimately" and "by virtue of your creativity" whilst they are in office, it can often be difficult not to appear opportunistic or rapacious when the public learns of any deal he enjoys which seems more a result of his public office than of his shrewd negotiating skills.

To be clear, using one's public office in any way to secure personal benefits in private business is entirely corrupt. But Browne flatly denies having had any such motive or in any way using his office to secure these business deals. This, despite such conclusions being reached by members of the opposition. His defense? The PM says it was by chance that a mutual friend of his and Mr. Singh's happened to be assisting Mr. Singh to find a luxury property to rent, and that it was by chance that the man happened to take a liking to his Jolly Harbour home.

He claims it was at this mutual friend's insistence that he reluctantly accepted the US $20,000 deal to rent the home to the same man to whom he had just issued a SEZ license order mere days before on behalf of the government. Interestingly, the PM has yet to offer any explanation as to how his son happened to be so well informed that he too snagged a second deal with the same investor for another property in Villa, a mere week after the PM inked the first deal for his house in Jolly Harbour. Another honest coincidence perhaps? 

Remember Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather: Part II? Think back to the when Don Fancucci, dressed in his iconic white suit, tells a young Vito Corleone that the Don ought to be paid a fee by Vito and his friends for allowing them to operate on turf the Don claims as his own. Fanucci said, "Tell your friends I don't want a lot. Just enough to wet my beak."

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Despite her Barbados Labour Party's near total control of parliament, Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called an early snap election citing a need to "unite" a "divided" country. What did that really mean? Is this early election merely a bit of political opportunism? Or is there actually a need for Mottley to seek a fresh mandate? And what is the outcome of this election likely to be? This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 9th, 2022.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Having been acquitted at trial on two serious criminal charges, MP Michael Browne appeared live on Facebook recently to address the public, dismissing the allegation of his accuser as false, stating it was was concocted to "blackmail" and extort him, and accusing current and former police officers of being complicit in what he described as an orchestrated attempt to ruin him. Browne was arrested and charged in November of 2020 and only recently acquitted at trial in December 2021. The judge was not satisfied that the charge against him had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In this episode, a former justice minister and a political analyst react to the newest turn in what many assumed was a scandal in its waning days. This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 9th, 2022.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

The Blackmail claim:

The MP maintained his innocence from the onset. But with the trial over, now he has more latitude to publicly defend his name and discuss all that happened, according to him. Due to the nature of the charges over which he was brought to trial, there were statutory restrictions and court imposed restrictions on what details could be published by the media. 

Recently, on Facebook, MP Browne said that a police officer who was the sister of his accuser contacted him before his arrest. He said, "the promise was that if I was to make a certain amount of payments this matter would never go to court..." adding, "I resisted, and after I resisted charges were brought. But I was comfortable because I knew that the facts spoke for themselves..."

A confidential source with intimate knowledge of the trial disputed this. The source told the host of The Big Issues that during the phone call in question, the accuser's sister, who is also a police officer, "never asked for money" directly, but "merely inquired whether he [Michael Browne] spoke to persons about settling the matter and if he was willing to go to court". The officer was apparently a prosecution witness at trial.

Nonetheless, Browne says the genesis of the allegation against him was a malicious orchestrated attempt to ruin him, and one that involved the cooperation of "several police officers past and present who played a very active role...in ensuring that they would bring Michael Browne to pay, or bring Michael Browne down". He further alleged that unnamed persons had confided in him that they were promised money if they offered testimony against him. 

At some stage in his online address, he stated, “I forgive my accuser, and I forgive those who would have collaborated. I forgive you because God forgives me for my sins and for my trespasses.

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

The economic outlook for the start of the year 2022 looks promising to some but bleak to others. So in this episode we ask: Will the first quarter of the year will bring change for better, for worse, or more of the same? This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 9th, 2022.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

More Background:

The last twelve months have seen fluctuations in our economy in line with the effects of adapting to COVID-19. But many hoped that 2022 would be different. Many hoped that with vaccination providing for higher level of immunity in the population, that economic affairs could expand with confidence. In the hotel sector especially, all parties looked to 2022 with promise - certainly with better expectations that 2021. But already there are rumblings in that sector - which provides so much employment at various levels - that cancellations are an immediate concern. It reflects the volatility in our traditional source markets. 

In general, businesses found 2021 and 2020 to be crippling years in many respects. Many closed their doors, changed their trade, laid off staff, and saw their debts grow. And for those who had been left without work, finding employment became far more difficult in a pandemic economy, constantly frightened by curfews, work stoppage, and partial business closure. Meanwhile, the government made it quite clear throughout the last year, that it was working with far less revenue than ever before. Many public obligations suffered as a result.

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

The state had a heavier than usual burden in 2021, reacting to multiple crises amidst a public health emergency. So how did the government perform under pressure? We ask that question and our three guests, Lennox, Shawn and Joanne, thrash out the answers. The Big Issues presents part 4 of Observer Radio's 2021 Year in Review (YIR), the final part. In this episode, three politicians from three political parties discuss the government's performance in 2021 amidst the pandemic and its associated ills. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 2nd, 2022. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.