— The law programme currently operating from the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party’s People’s Place headquarters is expected to return to The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus next semester, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has announced.

Browne gave the update Saturday during the Browne and Browne Show while discussing the rapid growth of UWI Five Islands and the temporary arrangement that resulted in law students being accommodated at the ABLP-owned facility.

“The law programme, I’m told, will be going back to UWI next semester,” Browne said.

The announcement suggests the programme’s stay at People’s Place could be relatively short as UWI Five Islands continues expanding its facilities to accommodate a growing student population.

Browne also addressed the financial arrangement surrounding the use of the ABLP property, rejecting any suggestion that the governing party was dependent on the university’s rental payments for financial support.

He said the ABLP is not carrying debt and has accumulated financial reserves, including cash and bonds.

“The Labour Party has no debt,” Browne said, adding that the party has “a surplus in cash and bonds.”

Browne used the party’s financial position to argue that accommodating the university was not primarily a money-making exercise for the ABLP.

He said the arrangement should instead be viewed in the context of providing space for the law programme while UWI Five Islands deals with the pressures created by its expanding enrolment and the need for additional facilities.

The prime minister’s comments revisit an issue that generated public discussion when People’s Place, which houses the ABLP headquarters, was selected to accommodate students enrolled in the new law programme.

Browne has maintained that the property includes facilities capable of being used for purposes other than party politics and that accommodating the students allowed the law programme to proceed while UWI Five Islands faced space constraints.

The latest announcement now puts a possible end date on that temporary arrangement, with Browne saying the programme is expected to be back at Five Islands during the next semester.

Browne placed the law programme update within a broader discussion about the significant growth of UWI Five Islands since its establishment in Antigua and Barbuda.

He said the university now has more than 1,900 students and is closing in on the 2,000-student mark.

Browne specifically highlighted the latest intake of 587 students, pointing to the figure as evidence of the pace at which the campus is expanding.

The prime minister said further expansion is expected over the next three years, including additional lecture facilities and student accommodation.

The development of more dormitory space is expected to be particularly important as the campus seeks to accommodate increasing numbers of students from outside Antigua and Barbuda, including students from other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States countries.

Browne said the continued expansion should result in more foreign and regional students attending Five Islands, strengthening the campus’ role as a regional institution.

The Five Islands Campus has experienced substantial growth since opening in 2019. Government figures previously placed enrolment at 1,403 students in 2025, up from 173 when the campus was established.

The government has also committed to a major physical expansion of the campus, including additional classrooms, laboratories, student housing and other facilities.

But Browne’s comments Saturday indicate that the university is already approaching another major enrolment milestone even before that wider expansion is completed.

The prime minister said the campus now has more than 1,900 students following the latest intake of 587, putting UWI Five Islands within reach of 2,000 students.

The growth also provides context for the space pressures that led to the law programme being housed temporarily away from the main campus.

If Browne’s timeline holds, those students will return to Five Islands next semester, ending the programme’s temporary occupation of People’s Place and bringing another academic programme physically onto the expanding Antigua and Barbuda campus.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: UWI FIC Law Programme to Return to Five Islands Campus Next Semester, PM Says.