Caribbean Times 53rd Issue - Thursday 8th December 2016

2 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Thursday 8th December 2016
PM and Opposition leader discuss CCJ
By Everton Barnes
The ongoing discussion
on whether or not Antigua
and Barbuda should migrate
from the London-based
Privy Council and join the
Caribbean Court of Justice
(CCJ) was the subject of a
discussion between Prime
Minister, Gaston Browne,
and Opposition Leader,
Baldwin Spencer.
Government’s chief
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spokesman, Lionel Max
Hurst, said the discussion
took place during a telephone
call from Browne to
Spencer. “The prime minister
reported that he offered
to let the United Progressive
Party (UPP) take the lead on
the CCJ campaign as it is
not the intention of the Antigua
and Barbuda Labour
Party (ABLP) to take credit
for the measure should it get
the two-thirds vote it needs
to make it happen,” Hurst
stated.
But PM Browne also
urged Spencer to encourage
the UPP leadership to fully
endorse the CCJ, not in their
personal capacities as have
been stated, but as leaders of
the opposition party.
By Everton Barnes
An American billionaire philanthropist,
Robert Foisie, is offering several scholarships
to Antigua and Barbuda students who
wish to pursue studies leading to a first degree
in engineering.
Foisie made the offer when he met with
the Cabinet on Wednesday.
Reports from Cabinet state that the
philanthropist is offering full scholarships to
study at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in
Massachusetts. “They will be full scholarships
to cover tuition, board, transportation,
books, incidentals and travel. However, the
scholarships will be competitive; applicants
will be required to sit an examination with
the top students being selected,” according
to Cabinet spokesman, Lionel Max Hurst.
He said the government is looking at how
it will be able to take advantage of this offer.
“As many students as possible may apply for
He called on the opposition
leader to mobilise
the UPP base to support the
CCJ.
According to Hurst the
prime minister made it clear
that unlike St Vincent and
the Grenadines and Grenada
where there were several
items on the ballot paper,
which in his mind confused
the electorate in those countries,
he repeated his position
that there will be only
one item on the ballot paper
for the referendum slated for
next year.
In their conversation, PM
Browne reminded Spencer
that he does not favour any
attempt to politicize the process
and any move to make
it one will result in the government
abandoning the
process. “The prime minister
has been consistent on
this particular point from the
very beginning,” Hurst recalled.
The government spokesman
noted that no one political
party can deliver the twothirds
majority required for
the measure to be approved
in a referendum. “The two
main political parties need
to work together if this referendum
is to be successful
and none one should attempt
to make it a partisan political
issue,” he added.
The CCJ was discussed at
Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting
when the prime minister
reported on his discussion
with Spencer.
Young Antiguans offered scholarships
the scholarships but only the top ones will
be selected,” Hurst reported. He noted that
students who receive the scholarship must
maintain a set grade point average in order
to ensure the continuation of the scholarship
for the four years of the programme.
Foisie reported that he makes charitable
payments to Worcester Polytechnic to
help young people such as those in Antigua
and Barbuda who do not have the financial
wherewithal to fund their education.
“My charitable donations were made
with the objectives of providing learning/
development opportunities for gifted young
students, who would not otherwise be able
to afford a university education in the field
of engineering,” he stated.
According to the American philanthropist
the WPI helped him when he was a young
student and it is his desire to offer such opportunities
to those in need.