Is Barbuda Fisheries Complex A Dud

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Thursday, 26 April 2012 02:29

By Everton Barnes

Antigua St John's - Several months after the much-hyped opening of the US$30 M Fisheries Complex in Barbuda, several shortcomings have come to light.

Barbuda Council member and Senator Arthur Nibbs is accusing the government of giving the people of Barbuda "a raw deal" with the amenities that are part of the complex.

“For example, unlike the new fuel depot that has just been opened at the Point Wharf Fisheries complex last week, there are no such facilities for Barbuda’s fisher-folk to purchase duty-free fuel,” he said. The Urlings Fisheries Complex also has a fuel depot, but the fuel sold there is not duty-free.

Additionally, he said the Barbuda Complex does not have a processing unit, and if the fishermen in Barbuda need to process their catch, they have send it to Antigua.

“The people of Barbuda got a raw deal with the project, and nobody is speaking out on behalf of the people; not the representative (Trevor Walker) not the prime minister, Baldwin Spencer, who has responsibilities for Barbuda Affairs,” Nibbs said.

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He said the people of Barbuda should always feel that they are part of a unitary state, and not a case where Antigua gets preferential treatment at their expense. He said actions such as these would fuel secessionist talk among the people of the sister island should actions such as these continue.

Caribarena.com contacted President of the Antigua and Barbuda Fishermen Cooperatives Leonard Mussington, who confirmed that the Barbuda Complex lacks essential facilities like a processing unit.

“I am annoyed and frustrated that after spending US$30 million on the Barbuda Complex, that there’s no processing unit, and in fact fisherfolk on the sister island have to send their catch to Antigua if they want them processed to international standards,” he said.

On the idea of a fuel depot at the complex, Mussington explained that with a service station already operational in Barbuda, establishing a fuel depot would not be economical.

“The cost of shipping the fuel to Barbuda and the turnover would not make it a wise investment,” he added.

The Barbuda Fisheries Complex, built with funds provided by the Japanese Government, opening in late 2011.

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