As Antigua prepares for its upcoming April 30 general election, opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) leader Jamale Pringle has put forward a targeted set of policy proposals aimed at addressing one of the nation’s most crippling domestic issues: chronic, unreliable water access that has left thousands of households struggling to meet basic daily needs.
Speaking to party supporters at the UPP’s official campaign launch on Sunday evening, Pringle centered his address on the urgent humanitarian impact of ongoing water shortages, framing the crisis not as a mere public inconvenience, but as an affront to basic human dignity for communities across the country. In a bold promise of immediate action if his party secures victory at the polls, Pringle announced that a UPP-led administration would implement an immediate, fully funded Water Tanks and Accessories Relief Program to bring interim relief to affected households while long-term infrastructure overhauls are completed.
The centerpiece of the interim relief plan is the full elimination of all taxes on critical water storage and distribution equipment, including residential water tanks, pressure tanks, and water pumps. Pringle emphasized that removing these fiscal barriers will lower the cost of essential storage tools for ordinary families, allowing them to maintain access to running water even during frequent supply interruptions that have become the norm under the current administration. He stressed that this stopgap measure is only the first step, designed to deliver tangible help to struggling households in the immediate aftermath of the election while his government works to fix the broken water system at its core.
Beyond immediate tax relief, Pringle laid out his long-term vision for upgrading Antigua’s water infrastructure, criticizing the incumbent government for leaving billions of dollars in already built infrastructure underutilized. A key plank of his platform is the immediate activation and connection of all pre-installed community water storage tanks that currently sit idle across the nation. “Every single storage tank… will be connected and commissioned,” he affirmed, noting that tapping into existing unused infrastructure can quickly expand water access for underserved communities without the need for years of new construction.
For sustained, long-term improvement, Pringle also committed his party to accelerating large-scale infrastructure upgrades through the Antigua Public Utilities Authority. These upgrades will include expanding the nation’s water pipeline network to reach more households and reduce delivery interruptions, as well as implementing proactive, regular maintenance for the country’s reverse osmosis desalination plants to boost overall clean water production capacity.
The water relief plan forms a core part of the UPP’s broader election platform, as the party works to distinguish itself from the incumbent government by positioning itself as a problem-solving administration that can deliver both immediate relief to hurting families and lasting systemic change to address one of Antigua’s most persistent public service challenges.