By Orville Williams
“People know and are entitled to their land rights. They will stand and prevent persons from breaking the law and denying them of those land rights.”
That’s the response from the Chairman of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) and executive member of the Barbuda Council, John Mussington, in response to the government’s intention to make further changes to the Barbuda Land Amendment Act.
It was revealed last week that the Cabinet held a discussion on a further amendment of the Act, after adjusting it last year to declare that only individuals and entities that lease Crown lands should pay those monies to the Accountant General, allowing private lands owners to conduct their own lease agreements and facilitate their own payments.
It was not made clear what the latest Cabinet discussions were centred around, but Mussington insists that, no matter what they are, the local laws on the sister isle make it clear who is responsible for matters on the island.
“Are we a nation of laws or not? Because with the government’s press release…they have never quoted anything, all they’re saying is that they’re going to go and amend a 2018 Land Amendment Act – what does that Act do and does that Act override the Barbuda Local Government Act of 1976?
“The fact of the matter is, the Barbuda Local Government Act of 1976 is entrenched in the constitution and it gives the Barbuda Council jurisdiction over the island of Barbuda, pure and simple.
“So, if the government is going to act and defile its own laws, then the response will have to be – in the first instance – we will defend the law in the courts, and even before that. What is the government going to do, come to Barbuda and just send the army to take people off of their land and do as they like with it? Because that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.
Last year’s amendment, according to the government, clears up the process of payments for land owned by Barbudans.
This is gearing up to be the second contentious issue over land ownership between the government and Barbudan officials in a short space of time, after last year’s Privy Council ruling that dismissed an appeal filed by BPM leader, Trevor Walker and Barbuda Council Chair, Mackenzie Frank, against the validity of the Paradise Found Act 2015.
That Act, they claimed, deprived the people of Barbuda of any right or interest in the lands that they have enjoyed communal ownership of for several decades.
Mussington warned though, that that ruling has no bearing on their approach to the situation.
“The Privy Council judgement was in relation to the Paradise Found Act; that was a specific judgement. The land system of Barbuda has never been tried in the court,” he said.
The BPM Chair also declared that the majority of the native Barbudan population living on the island is on the same page, and will fight to ensure their rights are upheld.
“Look at it this way, since 2018 Barbudans have voted overwhelmingly at the polls, in [both] Council elections and general elections, with regard to placing persons in parliament and in Council that support their view that the lands of Barbuda belong to the people of Barbuda, and lands shall not be sold.
“So, the statistics in terms of support [are] shown in the election results and especially in recent elections results where, for example, [in] the last general election, we had a voter turnout of 85 percent, and you see the results there.
“In the Council elections just a few weeks ago, the voter turnout was not as high as 85 percent, but over 60 percent of the popular vote went to the party that supports the views that are expressed in [our] press release.
“The government will have to challenge the people of Barbuda as to why they’re breaking the laws of Antigua and Barbuda,” Mussington added.