Title: Barbudans Resist Foreign Takeover of Coastal Lands

For over two decades, the Pink Sands Beach Bar served as a vital social hub for residents and visitors alike on the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda. Former owner Miranda Beazer recalls the establishment as a welcoming sanctuary where community members gathered to play dominoes or unwind after Sunday church services. Named for the distinctive pink-hued sand beneath it, the venue was integral to local life until Hurricane Irma struck in 2017. The storm forced the evacuation of the island’s entire population of approximately 2,000 people to neighboring Antigua. The hurricane obliterated both Beazer’s home and the bar. “No one escaped unharmed... it was devastating. I cried for two weeks,” she recalls.

Following the destruction, and after her husband passed away before reconstruction could begin, Beazer was approached by foreign investors offering substantial sums for her property. She declined every offer. “It’s not about the money,” Beazer asserts. “My goal is to keep my land.” However, she alleges that bulldozers soon arrived and demolished the remaining structure of her bar, actions carried out by foreign developers. Beazer is now engaged in a legal battle to reclaim access to the territory she claims is hers, a process complicated by the unique property laws of Antigua and Barbuda.

Under Barbudan law, land ownership is collective rather than private. While citizens can apply for leases to occupy specific plots, the land itself is held communally. This system, which originated after the abolition of slavery in 1834, was formally codified into the Barbuda Land Act of 2007, granting citizens the right to be consulted and to have the final say on significant developments. Beazer holds a lease for 30 acres of coastline but currently accesses only eight acres. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which is providing legal support, alleges that foreign entities Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) are illegally occupying the remainder of the land.

Murbee Resorts has issued a statement denying any unauthorized construction, asserting it is a lawful leaseholder and has not built on land outside its legal authority. PLH similarly denies occupying the land, claiming it has strictly adhered to all agreements since leasing land in Barbuda in February 2017. Despite these denials, Beazer, alongside other local campaigners, remains determined. “If you were to ever come here and experience it yourself, you would really understand why we're so committed to this little piece of rock that we have,” she says.

Beazer’s plot represents the final accessible stretch of Barbuda’s southern coast for locals. This situation mirrors a broader trend across the Caribbean, where wealthy developers seek to transform beaches into exclusive tourist enclaves, often bypassing local protections. Nearby, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer are developing The Beach Club Barbuda under the company Paradise Found. This 400-acre project, slated for completion later this year, features the Nobu Beach Inn, comprising 17 luxury villas, and 25 beachfront residences. Locals report being barred from viewing or accessing the beach due to a new bypass road designed to isolate the complex. Plots on the site reportedly start at $7 million (£5.2 million).

While the resort’s website markets the development as a “rare Island community on one of the Caribbean's last untouched shores,” John Mussington, chairperson of the Barbuda Council, contends that such a “community” was established in violation of the 2007 Land Act. To allow co

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-05-20 23:19:14 UTC