Barbados Shifts Focus to Reparation Settlement with Drax Hall Owner

Barbados  to press for reparations from Drax Hall plantation owner Prime Minister Mia Mottley has pulled off the government’s planned forceful acquisition of Drax Hall plantation in St George for housing, allowing the British owner to negotiate restitution for centuries of horrific treatment of enslaved Africans here. The late-night message came amid public debate about the proposed purchase of 50 acres of property for low- and lower-middle-income dwellings on a Drax estate. Critics of the acquisition believe the government should confiscate the property as reparations instead of compensating British MP Richard Drax, a descendant of Colonel Henry Drax, who introduced sugar farming to Barbados within a decade after settlement. The Prime Minister said Barbados would actively seek restitution but will not seize land without compensation. After meeting with Drax and being disappointed with the speed, she thinks a fair restitution arrangement should be prioritised. “And to that extent, the government has expressed itself of wanting to find a settlement that would be just for St. George and Barbados,” PM said. I believe it is appropriate for us to pause the acquisition to allow for more conversation and to see where we are in terms of being able to get a...