Antigua and Barbuda’s St. Paul constituency has wrapped up its first public town hall meeting, held June 18 at Liberta Primary School, and local Member of Parliament Chet Greene says he is deeply encouraged by the turnout and active participation from area residents. Speaking during a recent interview on WTP Media’s popular talk show *Morning with Sly J*, Greene framed the inaugural community forum as a clear success, highlighting that local constituents showed striking eagerness to open dialogues about neighborhood challenges and learn more about upcoming development projects for the area.
“It was clear that people had been waiting for this chance to speak directly to their representative,” Greene shared during the interview. Conversations at the gathering centered on three core priorities for residents: ongoing infrastructure upgrades, public service accessibility, and community safety.
At the top of resident concerns is the persistent water shortage plaguing Liberta, a problem exacerbated by the prolonged drought conditions that have impacted the entire nation of Antigua and Barbuda throughout recent months. Locals pushed the Antigua Public Utilities Authority to implement urgent changes to deliver more consistent water access to households across the neighborhood. Greene confirmed that residents outlined a clear baseline expectation: receiving scheduled water deliveries at least three times weekly would give families enough time to refill their private household storage tanks and rain catchment systems, a critical buffer during extended dry periods.
While Greene acknowledged that local residents have shown remarkable patience as the government works to address drought-related public service strains, he emphasized that community tolerance has clear limits. “Residents have made it clear their patience is not infinite,” he noted. “They expect tangible improvements to water access in the near term.”
Beyond water access, Greene shared an update on one of the constituency’s key infrastructure projects: the rehabilitation of Evergreen Road in Liberta. Repaving work on the corridor continued through the most recent weekend, and the project is currently roughly 60 percent complete, on track for its scheduled finish.
Greene added that the town hall also revealed a broader undercurrent of optimism among constituents, with many saying they can feel the national economic growth stimulated by current government policies. Even so, some attendees raised that development benefits have been slower to reach rural and smaller neighborhoods like those within St. Paul, leaving many local residents still waiting to see tangible improvements to their daily lives.
A third major topic raised during the open forum was community anxiety around underage access to marijuana, following the country’s recent decriminalization of the drug for adult use. Residents of Liberta specifically voiced alarm over multiple reports that cannabis is being made available to minors in the area, and called for coordinated action to address the risk to young people. To move forward with community-led solutions, locals proposed a dedicated working meeting that will bring together neighborhood representatives, Greene’s parliamentary office, and leadership of Ras Freeman to review resident reports and draft actionable next steps.
For constituents who were unable to attend the first forum, the St. Paul constituency has already scheduled its second public town hall for the same evening of Greene’s interview, to be held at Cobbs Cross Primary School, giving more residents a chance to share their concerns and priorities directly with their representative.