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Construction on these two structures had begun
completed during the UPP’s first term in office.
It created space not only for its stated purpose
of school-plant maintenance, but enabled the
expansion of the BoE’s Inventory Department
and Book Scheme operations.
In 2014, 40 years after the original building
was seriously damaged in the October 1974
earthquake, the UPP completed and opened the
permanent home of the National Public Library,
removing this institution from its cramped
quarters above a Market Street store.
Through a grant from the People’s Republic
of China, the UPP Administration constructed
the Five Islands Secondary School – which has
since been co-opted for the establishment of
The University of the West Indies - Five Islands
campus.
The Mount St. John Medical Centre
The UPP completed and opened the Mount St
John Medical Centre in 2009, after construction
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was closed down, years earlier, by the Lester Bird
Administration. Ironically, the hospital, this year,
was renamed by the present Administration in
honour of the late Sir Lester Bird.
The Medical Pavilion, meanwhile, houses the
Cancer Centre, the brainchild of former Prime
Minister Baldwin Spencer, who persuaded the
OECS that a centre to serve patients of the sub-
region should be established here. Construction
was delayed after the UPP lost office, however.
The (State Insurance) Treasury
Department Building and
The Antigua Department of Marine
Services (ADOMS) Building
when the UPP lost office in 2014. However, the
current Administration was challenged to bring
them to completion. The Treasury Building was
finally commissioned in 2019, while the ADOMS
Building – seven years later – is said to be almost
completed but not yet occupied.
Both were part of the UPP’s vision of modern
government in the technology age.
North Sound and Folleys Housing Projects
These affordable homes were purpose-built –
that purpose being the empowerment of civil
servants who wished to become home-owners
and raise their families in a comfortable and safe
environment.
BARBUDA
On the sister-island, the UPP completed the
Barbuda Justice Complex to house the district
court and the police station. It constructed a
modern fishing complex, in collaboration with
the Government of Japan, to advance the sector,
particularly the processing and exportation of
Barbuda’s renowned seafood.
The UPP Administration also repaired and
resurfaced the road network, bringing paved
streets to some areas for the first time.
The Grays/Green Community
Recreational Centre
This modern community centre, complete with
offices and a covered basketball court, has
replaced the derelict structure affectionately
called ‘Knuckleblock’. It was intended to serve
the social and recreational needs of the Rural
West neighbourhoods represented by former
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.
Negotiations with the Government of the People’s
Republic of China and the design of the complex
had been completed when the UPP lost the 2014
elections.
Since its substantive completion, however, use of
the centre has been denied the Rural West youth,
in particular, since the sitting Administration has
relocated the St. John’s Magistrate Court there.
The move was said to be a temporary one while
the High Street courthouse was being repaired.
However, more than two years later, the centre
still has not been turned over to the community.
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