Legal dispute over new airport runway in Barbuda will extend into November (photo by Barbuda Facebook)
A long-running legal dispute over the construction of a new airport runway in Barbuda will extend into November, with the next court hearing scheduled for November 11, 2025.
Mussington and co-applicant Jacklyn Frank are challenging the right of the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority, the Development Control Authority, and the Attorney General to proceed with airport construction without proper legal procedures.
The dispute centers on whether the two challengers have legal standing to question the Development Control Authority’s decision to issue a development permit for the airport runway construction.
The case has already traveled through multiple court levels, including an appeal to the Privy Council, before returning to the current proceedings.
At the heart of the matter lies a 2018 development permit issued by the DCA for airport construction that began in 2017. The challengers initially won permission to seek judicial review and obtained an interim injunction to halt construction, but the Court of Appeal later overturned that injunction.
A subsequent 2018 application for another interim injunction was denied by the High Court in February 2020. The Court of Appeal ultimately ruled that Mussington and Frank lacked standing to pursue judicial review of the DCA’s permit decision.
The November hearing will address challenges to the qualifications of environmental experts hired by the challengers. The Attorney General has been ordered to submit all applications in writing by July 24, 2025, rather than presenting them orally.
The hearing will also determine whether the challengers’ environmental experts meet the court’s standards and whether the case can proceed to address the underlying questions about development permits and legal standing.
Lord have mercy. When will this saga end?
It’s not just about a runway, it’s about accountability. If proper procedures weren’t followed, then this case deserves full transparency. Kudos to Mussington and Frank for standing up.
Well, this is the time for me to stop supporting the BPM and the UPP.
I am a Barbudan who has been living abroad for many years and I am now convinced, they are nothing but mischief makers withoht any sense of political direction.
I went to Barhuda for Caribana this year, and if I hadn’t done so, I would still be thinking what Franz Defreitas, the rapist fella Magic, Jackie Quinn, Trevor Walker, Mussington and Frank and the long list of liars on Observer radio are saying, is truthful.
I was completely blown away by the level of development l that has taken place on both Antigua and Barbuda since my last visit in 2015
I never voted for any political party but if I were to do so, I would vote for Mr.Gaston Browne’s Antigua Barbuda Labour Party. They deserve your vote. How could anyone object to such progression? This is revolutionary and life changing development, something we have never seen before?
Mr. Gaston Browne continue to deliver for our people, may God continue to bless you sir and our country. Well done!!!!
aren’t they supposed to be happy about the upgrades in Barbuda? They really did say Barbudans are just healthy Jackasses
This case has dragged on for years, and it’s clear why proper procedures weren’t followed. Whether or not you support the airport, the law must apply equally.
Wha dem people really want fuh do to dis country? One whole international airport done build and this ah all aryou can come wid?
We fed up ah aryou now man! Just jump off ah Antigua and Barbuda and mek space fuh arwe who lub progress and dis country breathe. Awdfyt, ah wha wrong wid dem people?
This case exposes how development permits are too easily issued with minimal oversight. If we don’t strengthen regulatory processes now, the same legal chaos will repeat with the next mega-project.
Isn’t the airport constructed already and planes landing? So what is gonna happen now. Gonna be ripped off. How Barbudans love trouble many of us will never understand. Everything be one issue fi dem.