Separate and unequal airport facilities prove that Barbudans are second-class citizens to Government

Barbudans are not at all pleased with the double standards applied
by the Gaston Browne Administration, which continues to treat
them like second-class citizens on their island.

Reports say that, at the site of the new international airport, there
are posh facilities for members of the moneyed class, who will arrive
on the island via jets. However, in contrast, a tent reportedly has
been put in place for use by Barbudan citizens and nationals.

Councilman and community activist John Mussington says the
people of the sister-island continue to be subjected to this sort of
abusive behaviour, which began in earnest in 2017.

Meanwhile, the international airport should have been opened in
December 2023, but has been delayed – reportedly because the
facility has not yet been licensed by the aviation authorities.

Mussington says that Barbudans have long been contending that the
airport was not being built for their use and benefit, but for the

convenience of multi-billionaires; and this is borne out by the huge
disparity in the facilities for locals.

There is a grand executive lounge at the airport, with well-groomed
landscaping, which was done to facilitate the grand opening of the
facility.  But since that did not materialize, he says, the palm trees
have begun to turn brown.

In the meantime, at what Mussington terms “a buffered distance”
away, stand two facilities that are expected to be used by locals.

This demonstrates that Barbudans are being buffer-zoned out of
their own island, the councilman says, with one rule and
accommodations for one set of people, while there is another set
and inferior type for a different set of individuals – mainly the
indigenous Barbudans.

In this modern era, he laments, a former enslaved people – whose
ancestors fought to own the land their enslavers held – are now
being subjected to buffer zones and separate quarters.

However, Mussington says that Barbudans will continue to fight for
their rights in order to maintain who they are as a people, and this is
not a fight they will give up easily.