Irma, Barbuda and the Billionaires: Citizens defend land ownership as their Cultural Heritage

By Emma Lewis

On the night of September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma’s devastating winds, peaking at 185 miles per hour, hit the small island of Barbuda. Approximately 62 square miles in size, Barbuda - which is sister island to the larger Antigua - was ravaged, with most buildings destroyed or damaged, large areas flooded by seawater, and forests stripped of foliage. With two more hurricanes approaching, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda ordered all residents to evacuate for at least a month. In the people’s absence, developers prepared to build an international airport on their island, destroying swathes of mangroves. This took place without environmental impact assessments being published; without consultations with citizens; and without the approval of the 11-member Barbuda Council. The Council, established in 1976, is the entity that administers the island’s affairs.

This situation has correctly been described as a case of “disaster capitalism” - the exploitation of a crisis situation for economic gain. 

It was just the start of Barbudans’ struggle for their rights to a safe, healthy environment, which continues to this date. Note that Barbuda has a unique history in terms of land ownership; Barbudans collectively own all the land. This arrangement, which existed before and after Emancipation in 1834, was formalised in the Barbuda Land Act of 2007. Horses, pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats roam freely. This centuries-old way of life, in harmony with Nature, has continued to this date - but has now come under severe threat.

Fast forward to 2025, and while Irma’s impact has diminished, the landscape has changed dramatically. Since 2015, when Hollywood actor Robert De Niro and his partner, Australian billionaire James Packer, bought a small resort on the island once frequented by Princess Diana, development has steadily increased, targeting the super-elite. Their private jets are happily accommodated at the new airport, which opened in October, 2024. Mr. De Niro is suntanned, and happy.   

Tourism websites now describe the island as the latest hot destination, waxing lyrical over its pink sand beaches. It is described as “the increasingly fascinating destination that is Barbuda (Nobu, anyone?)” - a reference to the exclusive Nobu Beach Club and the US$2,500-per-night Nobu Beach Inn Barbuda (currently under construction), owned by De Niro. At the Barbuda Ocean Club on Palmetto Point, U.S. developers Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) plan to build 450 residences and a golf course on a wetland, home to the “vulnerable” West Indian Whistling Duck and turtle nesting beaches, and other plots of land are being sold to private developers. This is all with the strong support of the Antigua and Barbuda Government, which also, incidentally operates a Citizenship by Investment Programme.

The people of Barbuda are not taking any of what has been called an ongoing “land grab” lightly. John Mussington, a marine biologist, and Jacklyn Frank, a retired teacher, who launched a legal fight over the airport against the government of Antigua and Barbuda in July 2018, celebrated a resounding victory with their indomitable team of environmental defenders last year. The UK Privy Council handed down a landmark decision on February 27, 2024, confirming that ordinary citizens do have the “standing” to challenge government decisions that would breach their environmental rights. This cleared the way for the case against the airport to continue in the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda. Case management hearings resumend in January and additional hearings are scheduled for early April. The environmental defenders are seeking a judicial review to determine whether there were breaches of the Physical Planning Act by the Antiguan authorities, including the Attorney General.

Since the Privy Council ruling, development has continued unabated. In May 2024 the Government pushed ahead with its unilaterally imposed Land Adjudication of the entire island as a first step in dismantling the communal land system.  Barbudans rejected the process and filed a challenge in the court. A class action constitutional claim will likely follow once lawyers are ready, John Mussington reports.

Despite its small size, Barbuda is rich in biodiversity. With its natural salt ponds and pristine coastline, it is home to endangered nesting sea turtles, graceful Tropicbirds and other seabirds. Moreover, its Codrington Lagoon National Park harbours the Caribbean’s largest breeding colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds. The island even has its own endemic bird, the Barbuda Warbler, which lives nowhere else in the world. Following scientists’ urgent survey trips to the island immediately after the storm, regional NGO BirdsCaribbean noted:

“As more and more of the Caribbean becomes dominated by resort developments, Barbuda is a wonderful and refreshing contrast; a place where the natural world is still evident in abundance. We wish Barbuda a steady, sustainable recovery that will benefit its people and where its beautiful natural habitat will continue to flourish.” 

Some eight years later, it is not clear that this recovery and harmonious balance has been achieved.

Land rights are human rights, fundamental to our wellbeing and security. But there are other aspects of the Barbudan crisis to consider. The principles of access to justice, transparency, besides the protection of vulnerable communities against discrimination, are all critical issues for Barbudans, embodied in the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the “Escazú Agreement”). The Preface to the Agreement notes that it “seeks to address the region’s most important challenges, namely the scourge of inequality and a deep-rooted culture of privilege.” Can one detect an undertone of disrespect and superiority in the Government’s attitude towards the Barbudan people, including disparaging remarks attributed in the media to the Prime Minister himself?

"This issue about Barbudans owning the land on Barbuda in common is a fallacy, it's a myth - it never existed,"

Prime Minister Browne dismissively told Reuters in April 2018, after his Government amended and weakened the Barbuda Land Act.

As constructions continue, the Government has also beefed up security on the island. John Mussington recounts a confrontation with riot police of the Special Service Unit, who arrived on January 25 this year

“to protect bulldozers as they cleared down Ancestral farmlands (Provision Grounds) to make way for a so-called 200 home housing scheme.” Mussington added: “The fully armed squad dressed in black and clad in kevlar and full face masks were engaged in a full day's standoff with Barbudans as the public road was blocked to allow the bulldozer to complete its destructive development without the required permit form the Barbuda Council. This scheme is another attempt to introduce a mortgage system that will force the dismantling of the communal land system.”

Mr. Mussington describes these aggressive actions as

“shock doctrine to sustain disaster capitalism.”

For Barbuda, there is another profound aspect to the ongoing legal dilemma: the islanders’ close kinship and concern for their fragile, threatened environment is closely woven into their sense of cultural pride and traditional ways of living. This emotional underpinning is also reflected in the Escazú Agreement. It’s about the environment, and it’s about the people who care for and defend it.

As John Mussington notes:

“The judgement of the Privy Council confirming the standing of ordinary citizens and the implementation of the citizen's rights and protections under the Escazú Agreement are essential tools, enabling Barbudans to continue to resist in defence of their rights to Land, protection of the environment and the continued existence of the unique Barbudan Culture.”