Title: Locals Resist Foreign Takeover of Barbuda’s Coastal Lands

For over two decades, the Pink Sands Beach Bar served as a vital social hub on the small Caribbean island of Barbuda. Former owner Miranda Beazer recalls the establishment as a warm, welcoming space where locals gathered to play dominoes or unwind after Sunday church services. Named for the distinctive rose-hued sand beneath its floorboards, the bar was deeply embedded in the community fabric until Hurricane Irma struck in 2017. The storm forced the evacuation of the island’s approximately 2,000 residents to neighboring Antigua. In the aftermath, Beazer lost both her home and the bar. “It was devastating; no one escaped unscathed,” she recounts, noting she wept for two weeks following the destruction.

Before Beazer could reconstruct her business, her husband passed away. Although foreign investors approached her with substantial offers for her property, she declined every proposal. “I am not motivated by money,” Beazer states. “My goal is to keep my land.” However, she alleges that bulldozers soon arrived, and foreign developers demolished the hurricane-damaged remains of her bar. Since then, Beazer has engaged in legal battles to reclaim access to what she considers her property, a process complicated by Antigua and Barbuda’s unique legal framework.

Under Barbudan law, land ownership is collective rather than private. Citizens hold the right to occupy specific plots through leases, but the land itself is owned communally. This system, rooted in the post-slavery era of 1834, grants citizens collective consultation rights and veto power over major developments. The government of Antigua and Barbuda formally codified these protections in 2007 with the passage of the Barbuda Land Act. Beazer holds a lease for 30 acres of coastline but currently accesses only eight of those acres.

The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which is providing legal support to Beazer, asserts that the remaining land is being illegally occupied by foreign developers Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness (PLH). Murbee has disputed these claims, stating in a declaration that it holds legal leases and has conducted no construction on land outside its authorized boundaries. PLH similarly denied occupying the land, asserting it has strictly adhered to all agreements since leasing property in Barbuda in February 2017. Despite these denials, Beazer and other Barbudan activists remain determined. “If you experienced this place firsthand, you would understand our commitment to this small stretch of land,” Beazer says.

Beazer’s property represents the final accessible section of Barbuda’s southern coast. Yet, similar to many other Caribbean islands where local property rights are weak, it faces pressure from wealthy developers aiming to convert such areas into exclusive tourist enclaves. Just miles from Beazer’s plot, actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer are developing The Beach Club Barbuda under the company Paradise Found. The 400-acre project, scheduled for completion later this year, features the Nobu Beach Inn, comprising 17 luxury villas, alongside 25 beachfront residences. Locals report that a new bypass road has effectively sealed off the resort, preventing them from viewing or accessing the beach. Individual plots at the development reportedly start at $7 million (£5.2 million). While the resort’s website markets it as a “rare Island community on one of the Caribbean’s last untouched shores,” John Mussington, chair of the Barbuda Council, contends that this “community” exists only in violation of the 2007 Land Act.

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