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A frustrated member of the public in Antigua and Barbuda has penned an open letter to a local editor, pulling back the curtain on what they describe as unprofessional and ineffective work culture plaguing some statutory government agencies and public workplaces in the country.

The whistleblower, who identifies only as a concerned citizen, detailed their own weeks-long ordeal trying to access basic public services from the national Social Security office. Since August 11, they have made repeated attempts to contact the office via telephone to book a much-needed appointment, yet every call has gone unanswered, leaving the citizen stuck without the support they require.

What makes this lack of public service even more infuriating, according to the letter writer, is the clear evidence that many employees at the same office have enough free time on their hands to host live streams on TikTok during regular paid working hours. This stark contrast – between an inaccessible public office that fails to answer basic customer calls and staff spending work hours creating social media content – has sparked deep disappointment among the public relying on these institutions.

The citizen emphasized that public sector employees are compensated directly through taxpayer contributions, which means the public has an inherent right to receive timely, respectful, and competent service from the people they pay to serve them. If members of staff have surplus capacity to produce live social media content while on the clock, the letter argues, they absolutely have bandwidth to prioritize answering public inquiries and assisting residents with their official needs.

In closing, the letter calls on senior management teams at these public institutions to immediately intervene, address this unapproved off-duty conduct during working hours, and implement stricter oversight to ensure all public employees remain focused on fulfilling their core public service duties. The writer stressed that the people of Antigua and Barbuda are owed a far higher standard of public service than they are currently receiving.

Antigua and Barbuda is set to gain critical additional water capacity in the next month and a half, as a new reverse osmosis desalination unit at the Fort James facility prepares to enter full operation, government officials have confirmed. The announcement was made by Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant during a press briefing held following a recent Cabinet meeting, coming as the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) rushes to expand water production amid an ongoing prolonged drought that has crippled traditional water sources across the nation.

“Within the coming six weeks, another reverse osmosis plant—that is the fourth reverse osmosis plant—will come online at the Fort James facility,” Merchant stated publicly during the briefing. He clarified an earlier reference that mislabeled the unit as the third at the site, confirming definitively that this will be the fourth operational reverse osmosis plant hosted at the Fort James location.

Once fully activated, the new plant will contribute an extra 400,000 imperial gallons of treated desalinated water to the country’s national distribution network each day. This additional output comes at a critical moment for APUA, which has seen a sharp drop in available surface water due to the extended dry conditions. In recent updates, the authority reported that total daily water production across all sources has fallen from roughly 11 million imperial gallons to just 9 million, representing a 2 million gallon daily deficit that has put intense strain on the country’s ability to meet residential, commercial and public demand.

As traditional surface water reserves continue to dwindle, Antigua and Barbuda has grown steadily more reliant on desalination via reverse osmosis technology to close the gap between supply and national need. The new unit is expected to directly help APUA address both ongoing water shortages and persistent distribution challenges that have impacted communities across the twin-island nation throughout the drought period.

On the heels of a well-attended “Justice for Rashawn” demonstration held Thursday outside His Majesty’s Prison 1735 and the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Khalid Shabazz is intensifying his years-long fight to uncover the full truth surrounding his son Rashawn Shabazz’s death while in state custody.

More than 50 activists and community supporters joined the initial public protest, and event organizers confirm that dozens of additional residents arrived after the official march concluded to express solidarity and sign up to participate in upcoming advocacy actions. For the bereaved father, however, this movement has never been limited to a single demonstration — it has grown into a broader push for systemic change that extends far beyond his own family’s search for closure.

Rashawn died shortly following an altercation with law enforcement during his time in state custody, leaving his relatives with no clear, official account of the events that led to his passing. Remembered by his father as a gentle, big-hearted young man who adored children and dedicated his free time to supporting neighbors in his community, Khalid says he is determined to cement that public image of his son, even as unanswered questions about his death continue to hang over the case.

Khalid’s campaign has expanded to address two overlapping crises affecting Antigua and Barbuda: the lack of transparency for families of people who die or go missing while in state care, and deep, long-standing shortcomings in the country’s mental health care system. He notes that hundreds of families across the twin-island nation still wait years, even decades, for official updates about their lost loved ones, and says public authorities have a binding moral and legal obligation to deliver clear, timely information to these grieving households.

Mental health reform sits at the core of his advocacy, shaped directly by his son’s lived experience. Rashawn lived with a documented mental health condition that sometimes led him to stop taking his medication, triggering episodes that required targeted, professional care and long-term management. According to Khalid, late Magistrate Conliffe Clarke had formally ordered Rashawn to be placed in residential care at Clare Vue Psychiatric Hospital, but he was ultimately released early due to widespread overcrowding and a lack of available long-term accommodation for patients.

That outcome, Khalid argues, lays bare the urgent need for sweeping overhauls to how the nation supports people living with mental illness. He is calling for the construction of adequate, accessible treatment facilities, expanded training for all personnel working in mental health care, and a shift away from ad-hoc, temporary fixes that leave vulnerable patients without consistent support.

As things stand, the Shabazz family remains in limbo, waiting for official updates on the investigation into Rashawn’s death. A formal inquest is already underway, with a post-mortem examination planned, but Khalid is demanding a fully independent investigation into the full chain of circumstances that led to his son’s death. He stresses that because Rashawn died while in state custody, his family is owed a process that is fully transparent, fair, and uncompromising in its pursuit of the truth.

He is also pushing for greater accountability for public officials, arguing that leaders and civil servants must face meaningful consequences when they fail to fulfill the core responsibilities entrusted to them by the public. What began as a personal quest for justice for his son has become a movement for all marginalized families across Antigua and Barbuda: for those still waiting for answers about lost loved ones, and for all people who rely on state institutions for care and support.

As official investigations move forward at a slow pace, Khalid says he remains unshakable in his commitment. He will not stop until he secures full justice and clear answers for Rashawn, and will continue pushing for the systemic reforms that he believes are necessary to stop another family from enduring the same senseless pain that his has.