January 22, 2025

Opposing Disaster Capitalism: Lessons From Barbuda Airport

John Mussington (left) and Jackie Frank (centre) raising their hands in victory.

Residents of Barbuda have been fighting the construction of an international airport – which would serve as a gateway to an even larger development – that began as islanders were in the midst of dealing with the impact of Hurricane Irma. This article, written by Franziska Schmidt and reviewed by John Mussington, details the campaign and what we can learn from it.

Construction of the Barbuda Airport began in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma during a forced evacuation of all residents to the neighbouring island of Antigua. From the beginning, this international airport with a private jet terminal was intended to serve as an access point for a much larger development – luxury residences, funded by the government of Antigua and Barbuda and U.S.-based real estate developers.

The government of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda had allowed construction to begin without the necessary permits and without proper Environmental Impact Assessments or community consultation. Crucially, the airport and the associated development violates the Barbudan system of common land tenure and threatens both fragile wildlife and local self-sufficiency.

In a lengthy legal battle Barbudans John Mussington and Jacklyn Frank challenged the government’s breach of national laws and international environmental standards such as the Escazú Agreement. National courts have yet to consider the case and the legal teams for the defendants sought to have the matter dismissed arguing that as ordinary citizens, John and Jacklyn did not have “legal standing”.

In February 2024, the Privy Council – which serves as Antigua and Barbuda’s final court of appeal – affirmed their right to challenge the development on behalf of the community and the environment. The case thereby sets an important legal precedent for citizens who want to challenge their governments over development projects which involve environmental violations.

“In order for you to be able to sell luxury properties, you have to build these exclusive communities and have the freehold title to land. These exclusive communities would cater to millionaires and billionaires who will arrive on the island on their private jets. Essentially this airport was being built to facilitate this process of establishing a luxury real estate market on Barbuda. If this policy of the government is successful it will mean the elimination of Barbudans in terms of our culture, because our culture, our livelihoods depend on equitable access to land and resources.”John Mussington


Chronology of Resistance

6th September 2017: The unprecedented Category 5 Hurricane Irma hits Barbuda, destroying homes, livelihoods and infrastructure.

8th September 2017: A state of emergency and mandatory evacuation was declared with the intent of having all 1800 residents forcibly evacuated to neighbouring Antigua, which was not significantly impacted by the storm.

Days after the hurricane: with the majority of Barbudans still away, bulldozers begin to clear forest land in preparation for building a new airport. Meanwhile, government efforts to re-establish essential services on Barbuda, including water, electricity, hospitals and schools, remain minimal.

Resistance forms: The Barbuda Silent No More movement and Save Barbuda are founded to provide information and counter the false narrative being spread about the disaster in Barbuda and to protect land rights and challenge the harmful development projects. John and Jackie join the Stronger Caribbean Together (SCT) network as representatives of Save Barbuda, receiving support from the network for their hearing on 8th of November 2023. Their work also includes awareness-raising through social media, workshop participation, and contributing to the documentary “Paradise Not For Sale“.

9th July 2018: Barbudans John Mussington and Jacklyn Frank, represented by the international human rights barrister Leslie Thomas KC, apply for a review of the government’s decision to build the airport and request a construction stop.

2nd August 2018: The High Court grants the interim injunction and rules that construction must stop immediately.

3rd August 2018: The government appeals the court’s decision.

11th September 2018: The injunction is lifted.

18th September 2018: John and Jacklyn apply for a second interim injunction to stop airport construction until a final decision is reached.

March 2019: Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) joins the fight, providing legal and logistical assistance and starting a crowdfunder for what they expect to be “a long legal battle ahead“.

7th February 2020: The High Court confirms that John and Jackie have “legal standing”, i.e. the right to challenge the project based on laws requiring public input on developments. Nevertheless, the court refuses to order a construction stop, arguing that it would cause more disruption at this point. John and Jackie appeal to the Supreme Court.

29th April 2021: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court rules that as ordinary citizens, the plaintiffs lack “sufficient interest” under the Civil Procedure Rules of 2000. Airport construction is allowed to continue. John and Jackie apply to the UK Privy Council, Antigua and Barbuda’s final court of appeal.

27th February 2024: The UK Privy Council recognises John and Jackie’s legal right to challenge the airport’s construction. Their legal challenge continues despite the airport’s preliminary opening.

4th November 2024: hearings in the national court were planned to start but have been delayed until after the date of writing in January 2025.

Barbuda In Context

Barbuda is the smaller and less populous of the two-island state of Antigua and Barbuda. With the abolishment of slavery in 1834, Barbudans established a communal land tenure system that gives all Barbudans the right to plots of land, for housing, farming or to establish a business. Common ownership ensures a high level of equality and is central to Barbudan identity and lifestyle.

The 2007 Barbuda Land Act confirmed Barbudans’ shared common title to the land and its resources and required their consent for any major developments. Thus, projects that would affect the island’s economy, infrastructure or environment in a major way would need to be supported by a majority of Barbudan citizens as well as by the elected Barbuda Council.

Communal land tenure does not exist on Antigua, which relies on large-scale package tourism. Tourism on Barbuda, in contrast, is small-scale, with much of the island remaining in its natural state. One third of Barbuda’s total area comprises mangrove wetlands and much of this is designated as a national park which is also the country’s only Ramsar site. Livelihoods are supported by the use of common land for hunting, fishing and small-scale farming as well as eco-tourism.

Hurricane Irma And Disaster Capitalism

Irma, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic at that time, hit Barbuda directly in September 2017, damaging most major infrastructure and 90% of all buildings. Most of the 1800 islanders were evacuated to neighbouring Antigua, some of those who refused to leave were taken off in shackles, very few never left. Government support to re-establish essential services and rebuild livelihoods remained minimal for months.

Days after the hurricane and while Barbudans were away, the government allowed contractors onto the island to begin work to build an international airport. They destroyed communally held land that Barbudans had used for grazing, farming and hunting and that had provided habitat for rare species such as fallow deer and red-footed tortoise. Construction work only came to public attention when John Mussington, a Barbudan marine biologist who had refused the evacuation order, filmed the bulldozing of what had previously been virgin forest land.

It soon became clear that the airport was intended for a much larger development that would transform big parts of the island into exclusive residential communities for the ultra-rich. The government of Antigua and Barbuda had approved these projects without consulting the Barbudan people, seeking approval from the Barbuda Council, or preparing an Environmental Impact Assessment. Funding came from the government itself in partnership with two U.S.-based real estate firms: “Peace, Love, Happiness” (PLH) and “Discovery Land Company”, which again are backed by billionaires John Paul DeJoria and Mike Meldman.

Prime minister Gaston Browne currently supports a development strategy based on privatisation and luxury tourism, confirming that the airport would open up Barbuda for private developers. In the wake of Irma, his government repealed the Barbuda Land Act and passed legislation to enable private ownership in an ongoing attempt to dismantle communal land rights.

Harmful Luxury developments on Barbuda

GLAN also supports the legal case against the Cedar Tree Point project, a proposed development of luxury homes endangering Codrington Lagoon National Park. This is a Ramsar-designated wetland and an internationally important nesting colony and habitat for the Magnificent Frigatebird and other endangered and threatened species.

As with other privatisation projects on the island, it also violates local land rights and access, thereby threatening livelihoods. The Barbudan tour guide and fisherman George Jeffery has therefore challenged the scheme and the Development Control Authority’s approval of the project. The case is being heard by the court.

Barbuda and climate change

As a flat, low-lying island, Barbuda is vulnerable to the effects of climate breakdown such as hurricanes, flooding, drought and coastal erosion. The airport and connected development aggravate these threats:

  • the runway was built on aquifers that are critical for the island’s groundwater supply
  • the development destroyed internationally listed wetlands that had lessened the impact of storms and flooding that was projected to worsen
  • the runway – a large, tarmacked area – is affecting the climate locally
  • more aviation, especially the disproportionate pollution caused by private jets, will exacerbate climate breakdown
  • while luxury home owners can fly to safety, Barbudans will bear the environmental consequences

Judicial Delaying Tactics And Activist Persistence

John Mussington, a marine biologist and retired school principal, and Jacklyn Frank, a retired teacher, decided to challenge the government over their legal violations. They first applied for an interim injunction in July 2018 and were represented by Leslie Thomas KC, an international human rights barrister who would support their case throughout.

The High Court granted the injunction shortly after ruling that all construction work would have to stop. The hearing revealed that the Department of the Environment (DoE) had warned the government of significant gaps in the Environmental Impact Assessment and that governmental departments had failed to comply with the Physical Planning Act 2003.

This early success did not last long. Following an appeal by the government, the injunction was lifted just weeks after the court’s first decision. In September 2018, John and Jackie applied for a second injunction in defiance of the government’s threat to seek damages if their legal battle should continue.

After waiting a year and a half, the court refused this injunction. While the judge affirmed John and Jackie had “legal standing”, the construction stop was not granted. Still, John and Jackie did not give up, challenging the decision in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. In a critical reversal of previous decisions, the judge ruled that as ordinary citizens, they did not have “sufficient interest” to challenge the project and allowed construction to continue.

John summarises the significance of this: “The lawyers for the central government administration and the Development Control Authority, which were answerable in the case, introduced this concept of ‘legal standing’. They were claiming that as ordinary citizens, we did not have the legal grounding and authority to bring the case to court. If they had succeeded, it would have set a precedent with significant implications for other countries served by the Privy Council and by the Escazú Agreement”.

“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”, Sarah O’Malley of GLAN commented.

The UK Privy Council Ruling

John and Jackie then brought the case to the London-based Privy Council, Antigua and Barbuda’s highest court of appeal. In a crucial decision that sets an important legal precedent, the court declared that anyone with genuine concern for the environment and basic knowledge of the issue can bring such claims, even without being experts.

John Mussington said: “This means that other persons throughout the region who are facing problems from governments which are imposing development activities that affect their environment and therefore their lives and livelihoods now also have the ability to make such a legal challenge.”

The court:

  • criticised the Antigua and Barbuda government for bypassing proper environmental and public consultation processes, as required under the Physical Planning Act of 2003.
  • explicitly referenced Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to the Escazú Agreement. This sets a precedent for all signatory nations, allowing ordinary citizens to challenge potentially harmful developments and protecting land from wealthy foreign investors and economic opportunism in the wake of a disaster.

The Escazú Agreement

The treaty strengthens and protects environmental justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has so far been signed by 25 countries and ratified by 17. Its main points are:

  • Access to environmental information: Ensures that the public has the right to obtain timely and transparent environmental information
  • Public participation in environmental decision-making: Protects the right of affected communities and individuals to participate in environmental matters
  • Access to justice in environmental matters: Provides mechanisms to contest environmental violations for all citizens, but especially for marginalized or vulnerable groups
  • Protection for environmental defenders

It is the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean and the first globally to include such protections explicitly. Its implementation is a work in progress, but it is already being used in cases throughout the region.

The Escazú Precedent

The Privy Council’s ruling reinforces the Escazú Agreement’s principles of public participation, access to justice, and environmental protection:

1. Reinforcement of Public Participation Rights:
The Escazú Agreement emphasises the right of communities to participate in environmental decision-making. The Privy Council’s decision affirmed that ordinary citizens, not just experts, have the legal standing to challenge environmental violations.

2. Access to Environmental Justice:
By recognising that Barbadians like John Mussington and Jacklyn Frank have standing to bring a judicial review, the ruling broadens the scope for community-led environmental protection efforts.

3. Accountability for Environmental Assessments:
The Privy Council highlighted deficiencies in the airport project’s approval process, reinforcing the need for robust Environmental Impact Assessments. This is a key component of the Escazú Agreement.

The case thus serves as a landmark for Caribbean nations and beyond, encouraging other communities to invoke the treaty in similar disputes.

The Struggle Continues

The airport opened in October 2024, replacing the small local airport that had served Barbudans so far. With their right for environmental information and participation confirmed by the Privy Council, John and Jackie will now bring the case back to courts in Antigua and Barbuda. They will demand a full disclosure of the airport’s Environmental Impact Assessment, aiming to prove the construction was unlawful and potentially seek its demolition.

“What happens next? Well, for John, Jackie and the people of Barbuda, we are back in court…we say that this airport is being built illegally and […] if we’re right, we’re gonna ask the government to tear down the airport – you do it properly because you haven’t done it properly in the first place,” Leslie Thomas KC said.

Lessons Learned – What Worked in the Struggle Against Barbuda Airport?

  • Be prepared to be persistent: Governments and/or developers do have the resources to involve activists in lengthy court battles.  Going all the way to the Privy Council paid off, establishing a legal precedent and forcing the government of Antigua and Barbuda to reassess the case.
  • Working with lawyers: Jackie underscores the importance of experts giving simple advice that helps people to help themselves. GLAN supported the fight with a crowdfunder enabling John and Jackie to access international human rights barristers from Garden Court Barristers in London.
  • Learning about and connecting with other fights in the region: John and Jackie joined Stronger Caribbean Together, finding out about similar developments in other South American and Caribbean countries. This was helpful because, according to John, “you see a pattern. And once you understand that pattern then you’re better able to put up the necessary resistance that you need to.”
  • Understanding how your opponents work: John advises activists to “[…] research the people doing the things to you. Find out about them, and see how they operate because that’s how they work with you as a people. They’ll find out how you operate, and what your weaknesses are. Investigate them to learn them and that will help you fight them.” The internet can be a useful tool for research.
  • Informing others: Jackie stresses the importance of outreach and connection: “Another effective way that we found to challenge is the use of social media. To put the information out there so that people can know exactly what is going on.”
  • The Escazú Agreement: International treaties and legal precedents can make all the difference. Antigua and Barbuda was actually among the first signatories of the Escazú Agreement, reinforcing commitments to transparency and community rights.

 

Hear more in the recording of the “Reflection Days: Territorial Conflicts and Airport Expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean” (input given by John Mussington and Jacklyn Frank)

 

 

Continue Reading

Swedish activists sentenced to prison for airport action

Swedish activists sentenced to prison for airport action

After walking onto the runway at Växjö Småland Airport in Sweden last October, Ella and Björn, two parents with young children are now sentenced to two months in prison. The disctrict court in Växjö found the activists guilty of entering the airport illegally. It is...

read more