Antigua & Barbuda – Expropriation By Any Other Name

It has happened again. A Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda is once again proposing to balance the deficit of the nation's economy by the sale of 110 acres of the Half Moon Bay Resort property.

The first Budget presentation to Antigua's Parliament carrying this suggestion was made by Lester Bird in November 2003. The second one - by Gaston Browne in January 2015.

In the meantime, no payment has been made to the dispossessed American owners of the multi-million US dollar property for what Antiguans refer to as "compulsory acquisition" of their property and their business.

At what point does this euphemism for theft cease to carry the mantle of propriety?

All three levels of courts in the jurisdiction implementing the laws of Antigua & Barbuda have issued Judgments, Decisions, Declarations and Orders to rectify this abuse of the legal process.