Prime Minister Gaston Browne has announced plans to roll out a national beautification initiative aimed at transforming the country’s public and private spaces through the widespread planting of ornamental and fruit trees.
Speaking on Pointe FM over the weekend, Browne said the initiative is designed to support environmental sustainability while encouraging civic pride. Under the programme, government agencies will propagate trees which will then be made available to the public at a reduced cost.
“We’re going to institute a programme in which we propagate the plants and sell them to the public,” he said. “We want to promote more vegetation—more ornamental and fruit trees—right across Antigua and Barbuda.”
The Prime Minister said the scheme will complement the government’s efforts to improve the overall appearance of communities, particularly in urban areas where overgrown lots, derelict buildings and indiscriminate vending have been the focus of recent clean-up campaigns.
The announcement comes amid wider efforts by Cabinet to modernise the capital and prepare the country for increased investment and tourism. According to Browne, these physical upgrades are essential to the country’s long-term development and economic image.
“We’re trying to modernise the country,” he said. “We’re attracting investments, and we don’t have to have a dirty-looking, backwater-looking country.”
Browne urged citizens to take personal responsibility for beautifying their surroundings, noting that national development is a shared duty between government and the people. He also signalled that further legislation may soon be introduced to compel the clean-up of abandoned properties and promote orderly landscaping.
Details on the plant distribution programme, including the types of vegetation to be offered and how members of the public can participate, are expected to be released shortly by the relevant ministries.
“We want everyone to play a part,” the Prime Minister said, “because this country belongs to all of us, and its beauty is our collective responsibility.”