“Government Responds to Barbuda Council’s Obstruction of Louie Hill Development Plans”

The Executive Arm of Government has issued a statement in response to reports members of the Barbuda Council are moving to circumvent development plans for the Louie Hill area of Barbuda. The full statement, released Thursday, is presented below: MEDIA STATEMENT The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda meeting today, Wednesday 22nd January 2025, has learned that certain elements within the Barbuda Council have acted to prevent work to begin at Louie Hill, Barbuda, where more than 200 homes, a mall, and other infrastructural works are to be constructed. They have placed two government-owned trucks in the path of the excavator that has been authorized to commence the clearing of unwanted vegetation from land on which the new buildings are to be constructed. In the interest of order and peace, the Cabinet took the decision to warn the Barbuda Council of the fundamental right which the Central Government exercises over crown land in Antigua and Barbuda. The Barbuda Council is reminded of the Privy Council’s decision recently rendered, which the Council initiated. The Cabinet wishes to ensure that no harm is suffered by anyone, and that no property is destroyed by the illegal action of the Council members.

The Cabinet continues to do its best to ensure that decisions taken by the Cabinet—to improve housing, to ensure legal ownership of land in Barbuda by those who reside there and those who were born on the island, and those citizens who qualify—are fulfilled. As Barbuda develops, no-one is to be left behind, the Cabinet repeated. As Barbuda is brought into the economy of Antigua and Barbuda in a meaningful way, resistance by those who wish to stand in the way of progress cannot be tolerated. The continued resistance of elements within the Barbuda Council shall not be permitted.