By Robert Andre Emmanuel
The government said it is looking to build numerous satellite government offices on Barbuda when the new international airport terminal receives approval from the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) in the coming weeks.
The central government has been awaiting final approval from ECCAA to begin operations at the new facility which has been built to accommodate larger aircraft including private jets from wealthy individuals visiting the sister isle.
Speaking at Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Cabinet spokesperson Melford Nicholas explained that a meeting was held with Barbuda Senator Knacyntar Nedd, Town and Country Planner Chad Alexander, and Deputy Head of the Development Control Authority (DCA), Senator Clement Antonio.
In the meeting, they discussed the future role of the Barbuda landing strip in Codrington, the new airport and runway, and plans with regards to land ownership.
“Earlier this week, a team from ECCAA would have gone to Barbuda to do their own assessment and to make a determination as to when they could give their final consent for the new airport in Barbuda to be opened.
“It’s already to be noted that when that happens, that the Airport Authority in Antigua has already indicated that the old airport will be closed and, given the emerging need for establishment of a commercial presence in Barbuda, to support the economy that is rapidly being developed,” the minister said.
Chad Alexander, an architect, is expected to present a formal plan to the Cabinet to turn the old airport site into a business hub with shops and restaurants.
With the government expecting ECCAA approval to be completed in the near future, permanent locations for Immigration and Customs officials are being arranged via an administrative complex
Meanwhile, the potential influx of planes and other aircraft on the sister isle has pushed the government to increase its own presence on the island.
The work to be undertaken includes the procurement of an additional fire truck to address the needs of the new development planned for Louie Hill.
The administrative complex that would be built will also house DCA, the Department of the Environment, the Ministry of Barbuda Affairs, and the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Authority, while the incomplete Justice Complex will receive funding to help house the Magistrates Court and a police station.
According to Minister Nicholas, the government has sought to inform the Barbuda Council of the development.
“At every stage of the way, all agencies of the government have sought to engage the Barbuda Council; admittedly, the responses have not often been as quick as one would like, but I can tell you with respect to the master plan… there have been discussions with members of the Council,” he said.
The government has also placed a timeline on completion of the adjudication process – a legal procedure that determines the ownership and boundaries of land – at the end of August.
According to Minister Nicholas, Deputy Governor General Sir Clare Roberts and a staff member have told the government that they intend to be in Barbuda next week to formally post the notice of the adjudication process.
“Once the process is complete and there are no more issues to be determined in terms of who has some equitable interest in the land, then the land certificate will be issued to persons who would want to acquire land,” the minister said, adding that a number of construction companies have indicated that they are interested in establishing an office in Barbuda.
The Cabinet agreed that Codrington will be deemed a single block, rather than being parcelised, and that those who wish to continue to live in the town will be considered “tenants in common of the Crown”.
However, Barbuda MP Trevor Walker has called on the government to “stop interfering in Barbuda’s land situation”.
Many Barbudans wish to retain their centuries-old communal land ownership system, and maintain that the island’s land should not be for sale.
“Our position is, frankly, that our land situation will continue the way it has been, and we will continue to live the way we are living because that is the way we want to live,” Walker added.
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