Challenging Foreign Developers’ Takeover of Caribbean Coastlines

For over two decades, the Pink Sands Beach Bar served as a vital social hub on the small Caribbean island of Barbuda, welcoming both residents and visitors. Miranda Beazer, the establishment’s former owner, recalls it as a welcoming space where neighbors would gather to play dominoes or unwind after Sunday church services. Named for the distinctive rose-colored sand upon which it sat, the bar was integral to community life until Hurricane Irma devastated the island in 2017. The storm forced the evacuation of approximately 2,000 Barbudans to the neighboring island of Antigua. The hurricane destroyed both Beazer’s home and the bar. “There was no one who escaped unscathed… it was devastating. I cried for two weeks,” Beazer recounts.

Before the bar could be reconstructed, Beazer’s husband passed away. Subsequently, foreign developers approached her with substantial offers for her property, which she declined. “I am not pursuing this for the money,” Beazer states. “My actual goal is to keep my land.” However, she alleges that bulldozers eventually arrived, demolishing the remnants of her bar. Since then, Beazer has engaged in legal battles to reclaim access to the property she claims is hers, a situation complicated by the specific property laws of Antigua and Barbuda.

Under Barbudan law, land is held collectively. While individual citizens can apply for leases to occupy specific plots, they do not hold private title. Instead, the land is communally owned, granting citizens the collective right to be consulted and to veto major developments. This system originated following the abolition of slavery in 1834 and was formally codified by the Antigua and Barbuda government in 2007 with the passage of the Barbuda Land Act.

Beazer asserts that she holds a lease for 30 acres of coastline but currently accesses only eight acres. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), a coalition of attorneys supporting her, alleges that foreign developers Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) are illegally occupying the remainder. Murbee Resorts has stated in a declaration that it is a lawful leaseholder and “has not carried out construction activity on any land for which it does not have legal authority to do so, or at all.” PLH maintains that it “does not and has never” occupied the land and has “strictly followed” all agreements since signing a lease in February 2017. Despite these claims, Beazer, alongside other Barbudan activists, remains determined to fight for her access rights. “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 property represents the final stretch of Barbuda’s southern coastline still accessible to locals. Yet, across the Caribbean, beaches are increasingly threatened by wealthy developers seeking to create exclusive tourist retreats, often because local populations lack robust property protections. Just a few miles from Beazer’s plot, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer are developing The Beach Club Barbuda through their company, Paradise Found. Scheduled for completion later this year, the 400-acre resort will feature Nobu Beach Inn, a luxury hotel comprising 17 villas, and 25 beachfront homes. Locals report that they can no longer view or visit the beach where the resort is being built, following the construction of a bypass road designed to isolate the complex. Property prices at the site reportedly start at $7 million (£5.2m). The resort’s website markets it as a “rare Island community on one of the Caribbean's last untouched shores.” However, John Mussington, chairperson of the Barbuda Council, contends that this “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