By Kisean Joseph
Barbuda MP Trevor Walker says the government should stop interfering with lands on Barbuda, even as a decision has been taken not to parcel off land in Codrington.
The Cabinet yesterday disclosed that it has agreed that the village will be deemed “a single block” and thus won’t be demarcated along with the rest of the sister isle.
Cabinet notes said this means that those who reside in the village and wish to continue to live there as “tenants in common of the Crown” can do so.
The notes added, however, that those who would prefer to have an official land ownership certificate “shall receive those certificates attesting to ownership of the land on which their houses sit”.
But MP Walker says Barbudans will continue to live the way they have for over 100 years, regardless of any government decision.
Many Barbudans remain fiercely opposed to the sale of land on the island.
“From the perspective of Barbudans I just want to say categorically that the government should just stop interfering with our land situation. We have, as I’ve always said… (had) communal land ownership for over 300 years and we intend to continue that,” Walker said.
“So whether they say persons in Codrington should continue to live that way or outside of Codrington, our position is, frankly, that our land situation will continue the way it has been and we’ll continue to live the way we are living because that is the way we want to live.
“In other words, we will continue practicing our communal land ownership until Barbudans in the future decide otherwise.”
According to Walker, if the government persists in trying to sell lands on the sister island then it will be challenged in the courts.
“The Attorney General wrote to the Barbuda Council saying that they wanted to start the process of adjudication and our attorneys wrote back to them indicating several legal impediments from our side that we feel that adjudication in our view would be unconstitutional and illegal.
“So that process has started and our intention is, if the government continues to pursue this matter, to take this matter to the court. You know, I’ve said to persons all the time in Antigua, there’s one thing about us in Barbuda and that is we fight,” he vowed.
The MP claimed Cabinet’s decision to allow persons a land certificate to show ownership of their property, in spite of agreeing that Codrington will be deemed a single block, is hypocritical.
He said the majority of Barbudans have rejected any form of land ownership, therefore there is no demand for certificates.
“I believe in my own mind that they’re trying to appease persons or companies or entities that they have promised land certificates to, and that is what this is all about,” Walker added.
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