Two inhabitants of the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda have the right to contest the building of an airfield, which opponents claim threatens delicate ecosystems and was started without the necessary licenses, according to a ruling by a top court in London.
Antigua and Barbuda’s government was sued in July 2018 by retired teacher Jacklyn Frank and marine biologist John Mussington. Their legal battle is seen as a major victory following the Privy Council’s decision.
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Mussington and Frank did not have the legal standing to file a lawsuit, according to the Antigua and Barbuda authorities.
Leslie Thomas, a lawyer from the United Kingdom who is representing the Barbudans, stated that the plaintiffs now intend to request that the government demolish the existing structures. “This is a real David and Goliath battle,” Thomas noted. “We’re up for another big fight.”
According to Mussington, the decision would’ve “significant implications for citizens of Antigua and Barbuda who have long been suffering from the lack of transparency and accountability from key institutions and officials charged with implementing the planning laws.”
The decision is also anticipated to provide a precedent for other Caribbean countries battling to save property that affluent foreign developers wish to exploit, particularly when investors take advantage of business possibilities that arise after a natural disaster or other national tragedy.
Messages for comment over the decision were not answered by a representative for the development or a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s office.
It took almost six years to achieve the decision, according to Sarah O’Malley, an attorney with the U.K.-based organization Global Legal Action Network, which supported the Barbudians’ legal team.
“Environmental activists around the globe are often bogged down with procedural impediments making litigation costly and time-consuming, a subterfuge employed by those destroying the environment for their own profit,” she noted. O’Malley asserted that the ruling would facilitate legal challenges to government activities by “all who seek to protect nature.”
The Privy Council’s judgment permits the two Barbados to appeal a finding from the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court from April 2021, which concluded that the locals were not permitted to file a lawsuit against the government.
Despite gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, Antigua and Barbuda is still governed by a constitutional monarchy, with King Charles serving as the head of state and the Privy Council as the last resort for appeals.
Judge David Hope of the Privy Council contended that anyone might bring up environmental problems even if they are not directly impacted by a particular activity. He provided an example of how wind turbines were built beside an osprey’s path.
“The osprey has no means of taking that step on its own behalf, any more than any other wild creature. If its interests are to be protected, someone must be allowed to speak on its behalf,” he authored.
The government, the Barbuda Council, and PLH (Barbuda) Ltd.—founded by American billionaire John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the Paul Mitchell hair products company—are parties to the agreement that includes the current airport building on Barbuda. The United States-based Discovery Land Co., established by Casamigos Tequila founder Michael Meldman, is also engaged.
The firms want to develop about 600 acres (240 hectares) of protected marshland with 495 luxurious residences, an 18-hole golf course, a beach club, and a natural gas storage facility.
Following Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that was the fiercest hurricane to ever be recorded in the open Atlantic, the government ordered the evacuation of the whole island of Barbuda, and the developers started construction on the airfield in September 2017.
Frank was one of the people evacuated to Antigua for a minimum of one month. Upon her return to Barbuda, she became curious about a flickering light in the distance.
“It turns out it was an airport being built without the proper permissions,” She continued by saying that locals were never consulted by the administration. “They were breaking their own laws.”
Furthermore, without a permit from the Barbuda Council to destroy forests or an environmental impact assessment, construction started, according to Global Legal Action Network. Furthermore, no public meetings were held to inform anybody of the construction, and a development permit application wasn’t filed until after the work started.
To make room for the airport, some 400 acres (160 hectares) that are home to red-footed tortoises and Barbuda fallow deer have already been destroyed.
Additionally, Mussington and Frank have said that the building may affect the island’s groundwater supplies.
The administration has said that the airstrip is almost finished “Even if the airstrip was built in violation of development control the airstrip could not be ‘unbuilt,’” according to the recent ruling.
According to the Privy Council, if a judge determines that the government’s Development Control Authority behaved unjustly, “the remedies potentially available would include an order requiring the land be restored to its original state.”
Frank was apprehensive, but Mussington and Frank were happy with the decision. A second case, which was brought by a tour guide and fisherman against the Antigua and Barbuda government about the development of two private homes within a national park, is now pending in court.
“Despite having won, we Barbudans recognize that the fight for our land is not over,” she remarked.
She then concluded, “We plan to continue to keep fighting in order to protect what is ours and preserve it all for our future generations, just as our ancestors have done for us.”
