Stories

Wed, 20 May 2026

Wed, 20 May 2026 The fight against foreign developers buying Caribbean beaches

Campaigners in Barbuda, Grenada and Jamaica say they can no longer access their coastlines.

* A small Caribbean island, Barbuda, has been affected by a land dispute between its former owner, Miranda Beazer, and foreign developers.
* The Pink Sands Beach Bar, owned by Miranda, was destroyed in Hurricane Irma in 2017 but she refused to sell her plot of land to foreign investors.
* Antigua and Barbuda's property laws are collective, meaning individual citizens do not privately own land, but rather have the right to occupy a lease.
* Foreign developers Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) allegedly occupied Miranda's land without permission.
* The developers of The Beach Club Barbuda resort, which includes Nobu Beach Inn, claim they followed all laws and agreements in Antigua and Barbuda.
* Locals on the island say they can no longer visit or see the beach due to a bypass road built to ringfence the complex.
* Robert De Niro is part of the development team behind The Beach Club Barbuda resort.
* Campaigners are fighting for greater access to beaches in Barbuda and other Caribbean islands, citing colonial-era laws that favor foreign developers over locals.
* Jamaica's land legislation discriminates against Jamaicans, according to campaigners who are fighting for beach access rights.
* Less than 1% of Jamaica's coastline remains freely accessible to locals.
* Smaller Caribbean islands like Grenada are also seeing legal disputes over beach access and development.