Barbuda Council Ordered to Pay Over $140,000 in Legal Costs in PLH Land Lease Case

The Barbuda Council has been ordered to pay over $140,000 in legal costs after losing a court challenge regarding lease payments from the Peace, Love & Happiness (PLH) development.

The case centered on a $5 million advance payment made by PLH under an agreement with the government and the Barbuda Council. According to Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan, who represented the government in the matter, the court ruled that the council had no grounds to claim direct lease payments, as the funds had been lawfully deducted from the advance.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show, Astaphan explained, “The Barbuda Council had agreed to an escrow arrangement and a memorandum of agreement, which explicitly allowed for the deduction of lease payments from the $5 million advanced by PLH. The court found that this agreement was legally binding and dismissed the council’s case outright.”

With the court ruling against the Barbuda Council, Astaphan confirmed that it must now cover PLH’s legal expenses, as well as its own attorney fees, which he estimated could exceed $200,000.

“They not only have to pay the $140,000 in costs awarded to PLH, but they also likely paid a substantial sum to their own attorneys,” Astaphan said. “They engaged King’s Counsel from Britain and other senior lawyers, which means this entire case has cost them significantly—perhaps unnecessarily.”

Astaphan criticized the council’s decision to bring the matter before the courts, arguing that it was well aware of the terms it had previously agreed to.

“The Barbuda Council was part of these negotiations from the start. They knew the arrangement, they agreed to it, and they accepted the $5 million advance. Their attempt to claim that PLH never paid for the land was misleading,” he said.

This ruling marks another legal defeat for the Barbuda Council in its ongoing disputes over land rights and governance. Astaphan highlighted that the council has repeatedly lost cases over land agreements, including previous attempts to challenge government policies on Barbuda’s development.

“This is not the first time they have taken a weak case to court and lost. Each time, they spend significant sums on legal fees, only to have the court confirm that the agreements in place are valid,” Astaphan stated.

The Barbuda Council has yet to comment on the ruling or how it plans to settle the legal costs.

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