BARBUDANS FROM the east Caribbean island, who claim they are being “ethnically cleansed” by developers seeking to turn their island paradise into a playground for multi-millionaires, packed out a London court today.

Lawyers believe this is a test case with the potential swing the balance in favour of locals across the Caribbean who are being denied access to their own beaches, including in Jamaica.

Five law lords, representing the Crown’s Privy Council, heard claims that Barbudans were being unfairly denied the right to challenge the construction of a private airport to serve the super-rich.

John Mussington, a local marine biologist, was visited by police after asking whether the destruction of 300 acres of previously untouched forest had a permit for construction work, the court heard.

UK lawyers for the Barbudans, working pro bono, reported intimidation from private security and police on a fact-finding visit to the island earlier this year.

Dr David Dorsett, representing the Barbudan Development Control Authority, the Antigua and Barbuda Airports Authority and the islands’ Attorney General, admitted there was no public consultation, but insisted this was lawful.

Lord Leggatt expressed exasperation that Mussington, from the Codrington village situated two miles away from the airport, was being denied the legal right to challenge the airport construction on grounds he did not have “sufficient interest” in the development.

Billions of US dollars-worth of development is said to have been invested, with around 400 luxury properties retailing at up to US$10 million each.

Former boxer Mike Tyson is believed to have pulled out of buying a property on the island over sympathy with Barbudans struggling against the developers and Antigua and Barbuda’s government.

Lawyers supporting Mussington and another appellant, teacher Jacklyn Frank, believe that if successful the case could change the game for campaigners across the Caribbean, including in Jamaica and Grenada, who are fighting exclusion from beaches taken over by developers.

If the Privy Council case rules in favour of land-defenders Mussington and Frank, the outcome could strengthen the 2018 Escazú Agreement, which is designed to protect biodiversity and environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Locals across the Caribbean could then use Escazú more effectively to fight developments which deny them access to their own beaches.

Barbudans packed out a courtroom in the Supreme Court, Westminster, to hear that the East Caribbean Supreme Court described Mussington as a “busybody”, even though water in his village was being polluted by the construction.

Planning permission for the airport was granted retrospectively after work had already begun, and an environmental impact assessment has never been seen by locals or their lawyers, the court heard.

Barbudans fear they will be kicked off their island altogether as building work on luxury houses and mansions continues apace beside beaches with pristine white sand.

Marc Willers KC, counsel for Mussington and Frank, told the court: “Six years ago, in 2017 the population was evacuated [following the devastation of Hurricane Irma] but they returned to find construction work had begun.”

Rare wildlife was being threatened, including the Barbudan Warbler and Red Footed Tortoise.

Dr Dorsett said: “Having an interest in the matter is not sufficient; it is about having ‘sufficient interest’ in the matter.”

But Lord Leggatt countered: “If someone living two miles away doesn’t have sufficient interest, who does? You seem to be arguing no-one [on the island] has a right to challenge.”

Dr Dorsett avoided the question, but asked the Lords: “Has the [East Caribbean Supreme] court got it so wrong that it warrants the intervention of this court [the Privy Council]?”

The Voice has heard that supermodel Cindy Crawford has bought property on the island. Much of the land belongs to the Crown, and a lawyer for the appellants told The Voice that a multi-millionaire has claimed he is building a property for Prince Harry and Meghan. The claim is yet to be verified.

Speaking outside the Supreme Court, Mussington told The Voice: “As our saying says: ‘land equals culture.’ The kind of things that these developers are doing, they are literally destroying our resources, including our food security, and destroying our culture.”

He said Barbudans were being “ethnically cleansed” off their land, and he feared locals might be pushed off the island permanently.

US developers ‘Peace, Love, Happiness’ backed by billionaire John Paul DeJoria and Casamigos co-founder Michael Meldman’s ‘Discovery Land Company’ are said to be actively involved in the airport project.

Dr Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Director of the Global Legal Action Network, which is supporting Mussington and Jack, said: “We were out there in May to understand the rapid acceleration of development on the island and the implications for the local population.

“We found what is happening is the entire southern and western coastlines have been acquired by developers and they are destroying wetlands, laying down golf courses and chopping down the central forest for a private runway that will service these luxury enclaves.

“And there’s a fear the islanders will eventually be encircled on their own island. I think Barbuda tells us we should be resisting disaster capitalism.”

The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) report that their team were “repeatedly accosted by private security personnel, followed, filmed and accused of trespassing” on public land.

Police were twice called out to speak to the fact-finding team, and on those occasions they say their team was “harassed and intimidated” by a head of security.

At Coco Point, ‘private property’ signs were installed on the shorefront even though they were public beaches.

A GLAN report of the visit says: “What we witnessed was the effective barricading of stretches of shorefront. Security gates  – complete with guard dogs and barriers  – now block traditional access roads to the beaches of Palmetto Point, despite such access being legally protected.”

Fishermen can no longer access traditional fishing grounds of the islands’ lagoon, and they add that the island is being effectively “privatised” at breakneck speed.

The Privy Council decision is expected early in 2024.