ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Several key executive members of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) have refused to go on the record with their responses to an allegation made by one of the party’s more conspicuous member.
Lawyer Vere Bird III claims that some members of the ALP’s leadership have been bribed into silence by the government.
In his latest email newsletter, Vere Bird III said this is why some ALP leaders have refused to join their opposition colleagues in speaking out on the Wadadli Power Plant issue.
Bird III is the namesake and grandson of the ALP’s founding father, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird – a former prime minister and National Hero of Antigua & Barbuda.
According to Bird, “There are some in the Antigua Labour Party leadership that have been muzzled by the UPP and the Chinese for economical gain . . .”
Party chairman and deputy leader Gaston Browne has refused to tow the ALP’s line on the power plant, saying he can not claim the Chinese-supplied equipment is not new, as there is no proof or evidence to back such an allegation.
When contacted for comment on the young Bird’s claim of opposition figures being “bought” or “paid”, Browne would only say he has “no time for such foolishness.”
Two other executive members of the party agreed to privately share their views, but on the strict undertaking that they not be quoted or identified.
Efforts to reach Opposition Leader Lester Bird were unsuccessful.
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
