In a tense parliamentary session on Tuesday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne pushed back against opposition claims that the Antiguan government has laid off hundreds of workers hired through the Public Works Department’s employment initiative, reframing the narrative to center on widespread voluntary absenteeism instead.
Addressing questions raised by Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle, Browne stressed that circulating reports of mass staff terminations do not reflect official government policy. The core issue, he told assembled lawmakers, is not mass layoffs but widespread reluctance among many hired workers to show up for their assigned shifts. “We have a problem. A number of them don’t want to work,” the prime minister stated plainly during the debate.
The government-led employment program was specifically crafted to bring jobless Antiguans back into the workforce, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups and young people deemed at high risk of falling into criminal activity. Workers hired through the initiative were assigned a range of public-facing tasks, from routine road maintenance and roadside trash clearance to municipal beautification projects and repainting of state-owned public buildings. Browne emphasized that the administration deliberately reached out to these marginalized groups with the explicit goal of giving them a stable path to earning income. “We sought them out. We wanted to provide them an opportunity to work,” he added.
According to Browne, consistent attendance has emerged as a major systemic challenge for the program. Some hired workers only show up for shifts occasionally, while others have abandoned their positions entirely without formal notice. He also alleged that a portion of participants attempted to hold down separate private employment while collecting pay from the government program, failing to meet the basic commitments required of their public roles.
Despite the attendance struggles, the prime minister reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to the program and the workers it was designed to support. “We’re not going to give up on them,” he said. Browne went on to restate the core policy goal of the initiative: providing steady formal work remains a central pillar of the government’s strategy to keep young people engaged in productive, legal activity and steer them away from cycles of crime and disengagement.