by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): In a very fiery keynote address at the Nevis Reformation Party’s (NRP’s) National Convention 2025, Dr Andrea Bussue tackled some of the most pressing issues that citizens and residents of Nevis have been facing; among them, the Special Sustainability Zone (SSZ), a bread-and-butter topic in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Speaking to the NRP delegation on October 05, Dr Bussue sharply criticised the government’s handling of the Special Sustainability Zone, explaining that it is a threat to local heritage and land ownership. She compared the purchase of lands from Nevisians by billionaires to the days of apartheid and slavery.
“Let’s be clear. This is not about sustainability. This is not about freedom. This is about exclusion. This is resurrecting a system that was buried over 34 years ago in South Africa. Red flag. Big red flag. A system that mimics the apartheid system. An institutionalised system of racial segregation. Can you tell me why does the Premier want to resurrect this system in Nevis? For money? Greed? Unbridled greed? We can’t have that. I cannot believe that I will live to see my black brothers selling our patrimony to white folk like they did in Africa when we were slaves. I mean, they dangled little trinkets and took the Africans’ resources, their gold and silver. Don’t forget, they put the majority in the minority and owned the land and the resources. Do you want that to happen to us in Nevis? Who benefits from this enclave? Not the farmers. Not the youth, and certainly not the people of Nevis. We will not be spectators while our land is auctioned off to billionaires with blockchain dreams.”
During his August 25 national address, the Premier of Nevis explained that the proposed zone is situated on the Southern coast of Nevis in the general area of Saddle Hill. He had that, “ Those who know the geography of Nevis will know that the South Coast is largely barren with no development and no infrastructure. The lands in that area are owned by a large number of private landowners. “
The featured speaker emphasised that though the south east lands remain without infrastructure, they hold immense sentimental and financial value for their owners. Dr Bussue explained that, like many others, she earned a tertiary education through land used as collateral.
“We must be protectors of our heritage. Defenders of our dignity and builders of our own destiny. We must protect our patrimony, not just as a matter of policy, but as a sacred duty to future generations. Just as our forefathers and founding mothers fought to preserve the land, the culture, and the dignity of Nevis for us, we must now do the same for those who come after. My father, Nicholas Bussue, takes pride in recounting how the Honourable Simeon Daniel encouraged him to purchase land- $6,000 per acre, and he regrets not even buying more than that because he knows the value of land. I cannot sit here or stand here and pretend that I don’t know, because those lands were used as collateral for me to get an education. How can we allow that to happen in our country? When the Premier says that the land is barren, how does he know? How does he know? Most times, people use the land for collateral to send their children to university. That’s what my parents did, and that’s what others do. So we can’t just let people just come and take the land and they just assume it’s barren.”
Bussue toiled with the idea that, had Premier Brantley ensured that infrastructure was put in at the southern coast, the lands would not be barren as he suggested.
“The other thing is, do you know that the Premier did say in his budget that he would put in an infrastructure? Now, if infrastructure were put in, people would build. The land won’t be barren as he thinks. So, you have a responsibility, Mr Premier, to get the land and put in the infrastructure and not sell our land to people who are dangling bitcoins in your face, because guess what? I don’t believe they have any money.”
The Special Sustainability Zone initiative, which promises major investment and development opportunities, has stirred fear and resentment among a fraction of citizens, who believe that lands, which are key to people-empowerment, are being bought away by billionaire developers. Dr Bussue urged Nevisians to safeguard their lands- their patrimony, their heritage.
“Can you imagine a Nevis where youth have no access to land, no soil to till, no space to build? Land is not just property; it is identity, it is memory, it is inheritance, and if we allow it to slip into the hands of foreign billionaires or be carved away for private enclaves, we are not just losing acreage, we are losing ourselves. Land is special to Nevisians, very special to Nevisians. I want to know, however though, with so many uninhabited cays around the world, why aren’t they interested in those cays? Why do they want to settle in our country? Protecting our patrimony is not nostalgia, it is nation building, it is justice, and it is the only way to ensure Nevis remains Nevis, for our children, our grandchildren, and every soul yet to be born on this blessed soil.”
For several months, opposition voices had been pleading with Nevisians to remain vigilant and push back against what some described as a new form of colonisation disguised as development. They also believe that foreign developers’ ownership of large portions of Nevis’ lands could eventually marginalise citizens in their own homeland.
