“$1 Title Could Cost You Thousands of Acres”: Barbuda Council Chair Warns Residents Against Signing Government Freehold Offer

The Barbuda Council has delivered one of its starkest warnings yet to residents of the sister isle, with Council Chairman John Mussington telling a packed community legal awareness meeting on Thursday night that accepting the central government’s offer of one-dollar freehold land titles could trigger the automatic transfer of thousands of acres of Barbudan land into private foreign hands — permanently and irrevocably.

A Dollar That Unlocks Far More Than a Title

Mussington’s warning centred on clauses embedded in existing development leases on the island, which he said are designed to convert leasehold land to permanent private ownership the moment freehold becomes legally available in Barbuda. “Once you put that pen to paper, you are giving away thousands of acres of Barbuda’s land,” he told residents.

He cited specifically the Paradise Found project’s 198-year lease over 550 acres of shorefront land, which he said carries a clause guaranteeing automatic conversion to freehold once title becomes generally available — at no additional cost beyond rent already paid. A similar clause, he said, appears in a 987-acre lease in the Bravina Bay area.

In other words, the government’s seemingly simple offer of a one-dollar freehold title to Barbudan residents is not merely a land registration exercise — it is, in the Council’s analysis, the very trigger mechanism that these development leases have been waiting for.

The Salt Pond Plan: A Threat to Barbuda’s Freshwater

Mussington also revealed what he described as deeply alarming development plans tied to the 987-acre Bravina Bay lease, including the dredging of a channel through offshore reef and the excavation of Barbuda’s main salt pond to a depth of up to 40 feet to create a mega-yacht marina. He warned that such excavation would destroy the island’s freshwater supply. “If you’re going to be digging down to 40 feet, letting salt water in, you know what you’re doing to Barbuda, because essentially that entire freshwater lens will be exchanged for seawater,” he said.

Mussington added that the Bravina Bay lease, in the Council’s view, “was fraudulently issued” and needs to be legally challenged.

The Constitutional Shield the Government Cannot Override

Mussington firmly rejected Cabinet’s repeated claims that the Barbuda Council has no legal authority over the island’s land, pointing to the Barbuda Local Government Act of 1976 and its entrenchment in the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda. He cited Section 123, which he said requires Barbudan consent before any change can be made to the local government act. “That law cannot be unilaterally repealed by a majority in parliament, and that is what the protection is all about in the constitution,” he said.

“Evidence Is What Turns a Right into Something Courts Recognise”

King’s Counsel Leslie Thomas, who also addressed the meeting, offered residents practical legal guidance on how to protect their position while the court battle continues.

Thomas advised Barbudans to preserve any documentation of land use and to photograph fragile original papers rather than discard them, noting that grazing rights and long-standing land use survive the repeal of the Barbuda Land Act. He cautioned, however, that “evidence is what turns a right into something that the court can recognise.”

He also urged residents not to sign any land-related document without first understanding it and taking legal advice, and specifically warned against discussing live legal arguments on social media while cases remain before the courts.

“We Will Not Sit Idly By”

Mussington said the Council intends to continue its community engagement programme, including outreach to the Barbudan diaspora, and plans to release findings from a recent community survey at a future meeting. His closing message to residents was unambiguous: “We will not accept what is happening, and we will not sit idly by and allow it to happen.”

The meeting comes days after Cabinet reinforced its intention to press ahead with the Barbuda Land Registry and warned that structures erected without planning approval could face demolition — a direct counter to the Council’s assertion of constitutional authority over the island’s land. Court hearings in the dispute have been ongoing, with the next sitting expected imminently as the legal battle moves toward a potentially decisive ruling.

The Council’s message to Barbudans could not be clearer: do not sign anything, preserve your evidence, and understand that what is being offered for one dollar may cost the island everything.