Land feud forces government to act

The government of Grenada plans to ban the sale of lands on its renowned two-mile-long Grand Anse Beach.

The move comes as the one-year-old Dickon Mitchell administration pushes to ensure that the state, rather than private interests, has full control of the important piece of national patrimony. The ban will be effected through the passage of legislation in parliament and comes amid an ongoing feud between the owner of the Radisson Grand Beach Resort and international Grand Prix racing champion, Lewis Hamilton.

Both parties are feuding for control of a portion of a property in the same beach area. The previous Keith Mitchell administration had sold state lands on the beach occupied by Issa Nicholas to Hamilton, as part of a deal allowing the state to use Hamilton’s name in promoting Grenada’s tourism product worldwide. 

Ending land sale on the beach

Hamilton, who has Grenadian roots, was to acquire the property from Nicholas, turning it into a world-class facility but the entire process was not followed through. However, the incumbent prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, declared that the time has come to end the sale of all lands on the beach, allowing only permits for land leases rather than outright sales. 

It is being reported that Hamilton had wanted authorities to review the price of the property because he believes it was overvalued. Speaking on a local radio programme, Mitchell said his cabinet regret the stalemate between Hamilton and Nicholas. 

According to the prime minister, “our government, which was collecting the rent chose to transfer the freehold to a third party (Hamilton) who collects the rent and that third party, does not have possession of the site so there is no way they could develop the site because the lessee (Nicholas) has a 99-year lease. That’s the kind of thing that blows my mind as to how reckless in some regards the former administration has been in terms of treating and ensuring that you enter into sensible commercial arrangements with people to ensure that they do what they say they’re going to do, monitor their performance.”

Continuing, he said: “We (Cabinet) intend to pass legislation and we hope we can get bi-partisan support on this that says that all lands on Grand Anse Beach, which are not already freehold, should remain leasehold. I am saying lands that are owned by the government and the people of Grenada. We want to ensure that in going forward we give upcoming generations of Grenadians the opportunity to enjoy Grand Anse Beach, the opportunity to enjoy the patrimony that we enjoy now by having access to the beach.”