The Hon. Chet Greene appears to have found his calling as the Browne Administration’s mop-up man, having failed to figure in its attempt to protect Antiguans’ and Barbudans’ access to US visas.

A young woman, Nicolette Lewis, has aired her concerns about the plans put forward by the prime minister to rent his party’s property to The University of the West Indies – Five Islands for the purpose of holding law classes, and she has asked pertinent questions about the institution’s expansion.

She wrote as a NATIONAL of this country and not in any political capacity.

However, none of what she said was wrong in respect of the UPP’s plans for tertiary education. These included a university that incorporated several existing institutions: the Antigua State College (ASC); the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology (ABIIT); and the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute (ABHTI) – the latter two adjacent to the American University of Antigua (AUA).

The Spencer Administration was also open to the idea of a landed campus of UWI here.

These plans preceded the Browne Administration and were detailed in a formal document that was inherited by former Education Minister Michael Browne in 2014.

The vision of a “University Village” at Coolidge was predicated on the significant amount of land attached to the US military base – 154 acres – that had been handed over to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. This land space would easily have accommodated expansion of the faculties, student amenities, and necessary parking.

Surely, in his extensive travel at the public’s expense, Minister Greene must have seen that universities are not necessarily confined to multi-storey or contiguous buildings. Rather, colleges and faculties commonly occupy separate spaces.

Minister Greene conveniently forgets that the Five Islands campus was not only built by the UPP Government.

It was intended to serve as a modern secondary institution to relieve the overcrowding in, and enhance the learning/teaching environment of, the urban schools.

He also appears not to know that The University of the West Indies was a consultant on the Basic Education Project II, which recommended that two new schools be constructed:

Hence, the decision for schools at Five Islands and at Tomlinsons.

That is why the UPP objected–NOT to the establishment of a UWI campus, but to the “huffing” of the purpose-built school.

The UPP also knew the land space at Five Islands would be inadequate for a growing university, as it had already proved insufficient for the secondary school – which led the Spencer Administration to acquire private land for that purpose.

Ms. Lewis’ article, expressing concern about planning, was laid out without rancour or accusation. She literally wrote that “UWI is growing — which is something we welcome— and the introduction of the Law programme is another important step in that growth.”

Therefore, Minister Greene’s attempt to paint her – and the UPP – as rabid opponents of youth, progress, and higher education is manufactured and deceitful. He is reminded that Ms. Lewis and the UPP’s supporters are taxpayers whose contributions fund the University of the West Indies to the tune of millions of dollars. Therefore, we have a vested interest in its success and do not subscribe to Minister Greene’s petty politics.

We are invested even further due to the galling fact that our children no longer have access to higher education in the United States, thanks in no small part to his exclusion and failures as the minister of Foreign Affairs.

On the matter of The UWI-FI renting the property of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party for the purpose of holding law classes, thousands of nationals share Ms. Lewis’ concerns.

Obviously, as chairman of the Labour Party, the prospect of a healthy $26,000 a month in rental income would delight Minister Greene, and he would say anything to justify it. However, it reeks of insider trading and of strong-arming what is expected to be an apolitical institution of higher learning. The idea is ethically and financially reprehensible, as it amounts to nothing less than public funds – including those paid in by Opposition supporters – being funneled into a political party.

No amount of faux outrage and political posturing will make this odious plan acceptable.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: UPP Accuses Greene of Defending UWI Law School Rental for Political Profit.