ANTIGUA | Return to Sender ! Why Should We Foot these Legal Bills?

ST JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda, May 26, 2025 - By D. Gisele Isaac - Yesterday, on a peaceful Sunday, the first news I encountered on social media was an ABS-TV story reporting that the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) "will have to fork out some US$200,000 in legal fees" related to the Alfa Nero matter now before a United States District Court.

My immediate reaction was to look around for a grater so the relevant company officials would have something to wipe their eyes with. But after reading that "the Government has separately paid some US$136,000 in legal fees in the matter," with total expenditure so far in fighting the related subpoenas exceeding EC$900,000, I put aside the grater and picked up my pen.

First, I don't believe only EC$900,000 has been spent in total. I suspect the fees are much higher, considering the number of "movants" mounting objections. However, reporting a sum below a million dollars might be more palatable to the public.

Meanwhile, the questions remain and have multiplied. With the Government of Antigua and Barbuda not being named in the court action, taxpayers still want to know why we, the people, are footing the bill for the entities actually named—including Gaston Browne and Maria Browne, who are not identified in their official capacities.

I know learned senior counsel has said it's appropriate that we pay their legal fees, but as a documented payee from the Alfa Nero proceeds, his is not the professionally objective opinion we need to hear.

So far, nobody has been able to justify why ordinary citizens are picking up the bill for millionaires.

Another pressing question is whether the bills are being disaggregated for those persons and companies who don't even have the pretense of a government position, so they can write their own checks to cover their legal expenses.

In plain English, we need assurance that "intervenors" Andron Browne and his company IF Antigua, Inc.; Hyacinth Harris and related companies Cove Head Development Ltd. and Cove Head Communications Ltd.; and Farmer DG Browne Co. Ltd.—all represented by the same three attorneys as the other two Brownes—are paying their own way.

We ask because, according to the ABS story (and I use the word "story" advisedly), the Prime Minister has sanctimoniously pointed out "how costly irresponsible opposition is to a country and its people."

Since he knows all about costs but little about responsibility, let him tell us who, exactly, is paying these folks' legal fees.

We know information doesn't come easily in our environment, as there's no information commissioner properly in place to ask.

When it comes to family members and their acquisitions—whether Friars Hill rental properties, acres of prime land, or concessions in general—we know that "mum's the word," pun intended. (The same is said over in Barbuda, I understand, although some argue it's "dad.")

At a time when the public school system has just come off "pause" because this Administration thought it was acceptable to owe teachers money; when Public Works employees are working without boots or coveralls, even with hot mix; when the public hospital lacks sufficient functional laundry equipment; and when the new cemetery is about to open without a chapel or parking lots—tell me why those who have not are expected to cough up US currency for those who have.

Will the cash-starved Treasury be expected to continue paying as these personal matters wind their slow way through US, Russian, and UAE courts? Will other taxes and fees be increased to keep up with the complainant, whose resources exceed our annual budget? And at what point will the expense of defending the sale of the Alfa Nero surpass the sum we're said to have received for it?

“ So far, nobody has been able to justify why ordinary citizens are picking up the bill for millionaires. ”

Other questions are percolating. For instance, does WIOC's US$200,000 bill include coverage of the Chinese man/Fancy Bridge who is also implicated in this matter? Given WIOC's refusal to divulge any details of its sale of buildings to one of the movants objecting to the subpoenas, will we, the taxpayers—who are also WIOC shareholders (we think)—ever get a straight answer?

Just as importantly, will this new expense for the company be passed on to consumers through gas and diesel price hikes? Vehicle owners just hit with a 40% increase in license fees are anxious to know.

It's not enough for the Prime Minister to whisper these answers into the House Speaker's ear, either. Otherwise, we will have firmly returned to the bad old days of taxation without representation.

No mother whose son is languishing in 1735 because she couldn't afford bail should be so exploited. Neither should foster parents who must continue feeding and clothing their young charges when the government stipend is months late.

The backpay still owed to teachers and other public servants, the unpaid invoices at National Solid Waste, and the accumulated rent owed to despairing landlords—these ought not be pushed further back so that US dollar transfers can be made to pay overseas lawyers we, the people, never hired.

Last but not least, the Prime Minister throwing shade at the Opposition—after it warned him against the Alfa Nero debacle from Day One—is played out. Nobody believes that anymore. They know who his Cabinet informers are. What the people want to know is WHY he is using their sacrifice to cover his and his family's rear end.

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