Barbados leader stops paying UK MP £3m for Draxhall plantation | Mia Motley

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Motleyhas suspended plans to pay British Conservative MP Richard Drax millions of pounds to buy the 53-acre Draxhall plantation he owns.

According to The Observer Last SundayThe compensation plan has angered participants in the Caribbean reparations movement, who South Dorset MP Drax said all or part of the 617-acre plantation should be surrendered. To the people of Barbados

Mottley made a seven-minute broadcast to the nation on YouTube on Tuesday, explaining the government’s change of policy and saying she had decided to pause the purchase to allow for further discussion.

She added: “I understand the concerns of many Barbadians who may feel they have been denied the opportunity to receive proper compensation that is the product of centuries of blood, sweat and tears from Barbadians. This is not something we should take lightly.”

Trevor Prescod, MP for St Michael East Barbados and leading the island’s reparations efforts, he believes his country “should not pay a penny for Drax Hall”. He welcomed Motley’s announcement but expressed concern about the word “pause”, saying: “I hope I will not see the commercial relationship with Richard Drax resumed.

“I have received calls from all over the world and I want to thank The Observer for bringing this to the attention of the people of Barbados, the African diaspora and our friends in the UK who support reparations. People are seeing the magnitude of the harm done to African people. We are the ones being described as slaves. Why should we pay reparations to those who enslaved us? The taxpayers of Barbados have risen up to defend their money. The Drax family have had enough of us.”

Drax is worth more than £150 million and his late father left the plantation to him in his will in 2017. Their ancestors built the sugar plantation in the mid-17th century and worked it with slaves for 200 years. After slavery was abolished in 1834, the Drax family received more than £4,200 in compensation, a huge sum at the time.

The 53-acre site was selected for the construction of 500 low- to moderate-priced homes. Motley has pledged to build 10,000 homes to meet the needs of the island, which currently has 20,000 housing applications outstanding.

A senior valuer said the market value of agricultural land plus housing use was about 150,000 PNG kina bato (£60,000) per acre. At that price, the 21 hectares would net Drax £3.2 million.

In October 2022, Drax travelled to Barbados to meet with Mottley. It is understood that he was asked to hand over all or most of the Drax Hall plantation as compensation.

Motley made clear on the air that she was unhappy with the pace of the discussion, saying the government was examining its legal options “not just against the owners of Drax Plantation but against all those who have contributed to making this country one of the worst examples of modern racism in the Americas.”

Sir Hilary Beckles is from Barbados. CARICOM Compensation CommissionThe Caribbean Agency described Drax Hall as a “crime scene” where he estimated 30,000 Africans died in slavery.

Drax declined to comment. He has said in the past that his ancestors’ role in the slave trade was “deeply regrettable, but no one today can be held accountable for what happened hundreds of years ago.”