Friars Bay Firestorm: Local Bars Vs. Drew Gov’t
The battle for Friars Bay just went nuclear. Beloved beach bars — Shipwreck, Godfather and Discovery — now face a government deadline to shut down or be bulldozed, and the backlash is boiling over.
📜 THE DEMAND LETTER
On August 22nd, the Attorney General’s Chambers fired off a letter to the bars’ lawyer, O’Grenville Browne, calling their operations “unauthorized” and ordering them to quit by August 30. Fail to comply, the letter warns, and the state could send in “peaceable self-help removal” teams, drag them to court for mandatory injunctions, or even press criminal charges.
The government argues that the bars are either trespassing on private land owned by Solidus Corp. (the Friars Bay Estate) or squatting on Crown land, where only recreational use is permitted under the National Conservation and Environment Protection Act. Either way, the verdict from the AG’s office is the same: get out.
🍹 DECADES OF CULTURE ON THE LINE
For years, Shipwreck and its neighbours have been the heartbeat of Friars Bay — rustic spots where cruise passengers mingle with locals, steelpan mixes with reggae, and cold drinks flow against the backdrop of golden sunsets. For many, these bars are the St. Kitts brand: authentic, unpolished, unforgettable.
Now, with bulldozers being threatened, the question is whether government is protecting the law or paving the sand for something bigger.
🏝️ FOLLOW THE MONEY?
Critics point to whispers of a Ritz-Carlton eyeing the Friars Bay coastline. The timing has raised eyebrows: why now, and why so aggressively? Many see the AG’s hardline as less about conservation and more about clearing paradise for elite development.
💬 “Weaponizing the Attorney General’s Office to bulldoze small businesses is nothing short of blatant wickedness,” one advocate blasted. “Government should be defending Kittitian entrepreneurs, not throwing them under the bus for foreign financiers.”
⚖️ THE COUNTERPUNCH
But the bar owners aren’t folding their umbrellas just yet. Through their lawyer, they’ve signalled they’re ready to fight, arguing the government’s selective enforcement smacks of intimidation and hypocrisy. With the August 30 deadline looming, they say the people deserve answers: why erase icons of local culture for the promise of global chains?
✊ BIGGER THAN BARS
This clash isn’t just about beach huts and rum punch. It’s about whose vision of tourism wins: the grassroots Kittitian style that built Friars Bay’s global reputation, or glossy international resorts with little space for the small man.
The countdown is on. By next week, we’ll know whether Friars Bay’s soul survives, or if it’s sacrificed at the altar of “progress.”
