Jealous countries trying to block new UWI campus – Antigua PM
Published:Tuesday | April 30, 2019 | 12:26 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has blasted some Caribbean countries for habouring what he described as petty jealousy for opposing moves a to establish a campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) in his country.
“The technical committee of the university approved our university plan. Unfortunately, you have some politics that is taking root now with some of the campus countries – if I may call them that – expressing concerns. They have all kind of fears. They have all kind of innuendoes and subterfuge they now bring to the fore,” Browne said in a programme on his private radio station on the weekend.
The socialist prime minister did not disclose which countries were opposing the establishment of another campus.
The UWI currently has campuses in Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. It also has an open campus.
Vice Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles had disclosed earlier this month that he had held talks with Antigua and Barbuda regarding the opening of the fourth landed campus of the regional tertiary institution. However, he mentioned no opposition to the plan.
A seemingly irritated Browne insisted that a university campus will be opened in the Eastern Caribbean island come September, whether or not that facility is in any way affiliated with The UWI.
“They can jump high, jump low. We are opening up the door of our university come September of this year, and if they put any obstacle in our way, then we use another brand. It does not have to be UWI,” he charged.
Added Browne: “Just as how Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have campuses to educate their people, we want the same thing within the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States), and this is an initiative in which Antigua and Barbuda shall not relent.”