Prime Minister Gaston Browne has outlined approximately $150 million in infrastructure and development projects earmarked for Barbuda, while defending his administration's controversial land policy before supporters at a public rally backing Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) candidate Kendra Beazer. According to Antigua.news, Browne detailed funding commitments spanning multiple sectors during the rally held last night.
Browne told the crowd that funding had been secured across road infrastructure, a new cargo port, a primary school, airport terminal upgrades, and an expansion of the island's renewable energy plant. He said $50 million had been allocated toward these projects, with $35 million of that amount approved by the Caribbean Development Bank. Contracts, he added, are being prepared for local contractors to begin the work.
"They've already met with a number of contractors and contracts are being prepared to give to these contractors in order to deal with the road infrastructure," Browne said. "That is just the start."
The Prime Minister announced that $10 million would be spent constructing a new primary school in Barbuda. He said $4 million of that total was secured through a grant he negotiated with the former president of the Dominican Republic following Hurricane Irma, and that $1.5 million of the grant has already been deposited.
A new cargo port facility costing approximately $20 million is also planned. Browne said funding would be partly drawn from Murbee Limited, the development company behind a planned high-end hotel at Dulcina, with Murbee expected to contribute nearly $14 million to the port project. He explained that the facility needed to be relocated from its original position at River Dock after the site was assessed as unsustainable.
"We were advised since 2018 after the hurricane that the facility there at River was not a sustaining one and that we had to do something about it," Browne told the rally.
On energy, Browne said his administration is in discussions with the government of India to secure approximately $10 million to expand Barbuda's renewable energy plant, which he said his government originally constructed and which now supplies most of the island's electricity. On aviation, he said approximately $8 million remaining from an FCIB airport loan would be reprogrammed to construct a new airport terminal in Barbuda, replacing what he described as temporary facilities.
Browne also addressed the long-running dispute over land rights on the island, arguing that the 2007 Barbuda Land Act, passed under the previous United Progressive Party administration, was unconstitutional because it required both grandparents of an applicant to be Barbudan. He further contended that the Act's "ownership in common" provision was never legally effected, as it would have required a referendum that was never held.
The Prime Minister said the current policy offers Barbudans the option of leasehold or freehold title for $1, but does not compel any resident to take up the offer. He said discussions with Beazer had included the possibility of placing large tracts of Barbudan land in a trust, potentially retaining 25,000 acres in the trust while allocating 5,000 acres for freehold title.
Browne pledged to appoint Beazer to Cabinet as a minister if elected, arguing that this would give Barbuda direct representation at the decision-making table. He also committed to further investment in the Hannah Thomas Hospital, with the aim of reducing the frequency with which Barbudans must travel to Antigua's Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre for treatment.
