United Progressive Party candidate Harold Lovell says residents of All Saints West are expressing deep frustration over crumbling roads, poor drainage, and what he describes as wasteful government spending on short-term fixes. According to Antigua.news, Lovell, the UPP caretaker for the constituency, argues that community roads deteriorate rapidly after rainfall because repairs are carried out without a long-term plan — leaving taxpayers to repeatedly fund patchwork solutions.
"There are many areas in the constituency where they put down asphalt and as soon as it rains it takes the line of least resistance…it comes through the road and undercuts the asphalt," Lovell said. "There's some roads like…the Buckley Line road that has to be repaired like every two or three months, because the drainage is not being fixed."
Lovell also accuses the government of rushing infrastructure projects ahead of elections and abandoning them once voting concludes. He warns that this pattern will continue to produce half-finished works across the country.
"What we now see is what we saw in Saint Mary South, we saw it in Saint Philip's North, we saw it in Saint Peter. If an election is coming, they will rush and do things in a hurried way and then as soon as the election is finished, all the equipment is taken out and as they say, 'wey it drop, it 'tap,'" Lovell said.
A former government minister and past UPP political leader, Lovell is seeking to represent All Saints West — the constituency where he resides — in the upcoming general elections. He is advocating for a systematic, long-term road construction programme to build durable infrastructure across the area.
Lovell says the prevailing mood among constituents is one of deep dissatisfaction, noting that some of the country's worst roads run through All Saints West. He recounted a particularly striking exchange with a frustrated resident from Jonas Road, whose words have since become a rallying cry.
"No water, no road, no vote!" the resident reportedly told him.
"She's so frustrated, she's really saying that these things must be addressed or else she's not going to vote," Lovell explained. "But we had an excellent opportunity to interact, and let me just put it this way — I think she's going to vote."
