Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has again criticized the position of the United States regarding China’s assistance programme to the region, saying that Beijing is providing loans at even better rates that the World Bank.
This is the second time within a seven month period that Browne has publicly criticized US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who has likened China to a predatory leader.
But speaking at the handover ceremony for the Grays Green Community Centre which was funded by Beijing, Browne said he had “gone as far rebutting” Pompeo to tell him that Washington’s position regarding China “was not so, and called upon him and the United States to put a framework in place so that developing countries could benefit similar to what the People’s Republic of China is doing.
“I am pleased to announce that just yesterday there was a release coming from the OPEC organization in which they reckon that they will form this tropical arrangement between OPEC. Canada and the European Union to put together a better developmental paradigm to assist developing countries in the world.”
Browne said that the World Bank, a developmental lending agency, cannot even match the lending rates being provided by China.
He said Beijing extends loans up to 20 years with a five years moratorium at two per cent interest and “not even the World Bank as a developmental institution (provides) that type of concessional funding.
“Not even during a disaster because when Barbuda got decimated by Hurricane Irma (2017), the World Bank agreed to come to our rescue and we engaged them, they offered us a loan of up to 40 million dollars over 10 years at four per cent; we said to them, the term is too short interest too high.
“They said to us, if we want better terms, we had to get a donor to give us $20 million so that they can write down their terms probably maybe down to one per cent over 20 years,” Browne told the ceremony.
He said that various projects here have been made possible through grant funding from China in an effort to demonstrate its willingness to assist developing countries globally.
“This very project for which we are having the handing over ceremony was a grant in excess of 20 million dollars grand compliments the government of the People’s Republic of China and they have made numerous grants in the past, the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, that was a 70 million dollars grant from the People’s Republic of China.
“Currently, there are two clinics being built; one in Villa and one in Wilikies at a cost in excess of 10 million US dollars, grant monies again and the best is yet to come,” Browne said as he alluded to the funds made available to assist the island with its housing challenges.
“The People’s Republic of China has approved a grand of Ninety Million dollars to help us to provide social housing for the people of Antigua and Barbuda so we can build more resultants homes are those the practices of a predatory government?
I say to you, those are the practices of a caring government, a government that understands the needs of the developing countries globally and would have gone the extra mile to help us to build capacity literally in all aspects of our development,” Browne said.
In October last year, Browne told Washington that in order to deal with the growing influence of China among developing countries, it should rather than seek to criticize Beijing, provide more aid to developing countries rather than spend billions on useless wars.
Pompey had warned countries against accepting gifts from Beijing, urging them to be wary of Chinese companies coming with projects that seem too good to be true.
But Prime Minister Browne said that Beijing had played a significant role over the years in the socio-economic development of Caribbean countries and that Washington would do well to follow suit and stop wasting resources on useless wars.
“Those who are opposed to China’s deepening influence in the hemisphere need to talk less and perhaps they need to put some diplomatic dollars or development assistance…on the table,” he said then.
