ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC—Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Monday that his administration would defend the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) in the law courts, even as he warned that the projects would be affected by the pending legal action initiated by the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP).
“We will go to court and defend the program, we will defend the country, but when you talk about transparency, there is no time in this program that this program has been more accountable and transparent than it is now,” Skerrit told a news conference.
“The facts are there in an undisputed manner,” he said, adding, “We love when people ask questions. It gives up the opportunity to respond and explain. Still, the reality is that the opposition refuses to accept all the explanations we have given and the responses we have given”.
Under the CBI, foreign investors are granted citizenship of the island in return for making substantial investments in Dominica’s socio-economic development.
Apart from Dominica, the other islands with a similar CBI program are Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, and St. Lucia.
Currently, the programme requires a minimum donation of US$250,000 or a minimum investment of US$400,000.
However, in recent years, concerns have been raised about the program’s administration before the recent reforms, including issues of underselling citizenships, transparency, and financial accountability.
Last week, the UWP, which is being represented by former Trinidad and Tobago attorney general Anand Ramlogan, said it was taking legal action against the government over the CBI, indicating that the intention is to ask the Skerrit administration to disclose a copy of the agreement between the government and its agents for the CBI program.
“…we intend to ask to see the terms and conditions of that contract because the case is constructed based on the Dominican constitution and on the principle that all monies and revenues earned by the government are meant to be paid into the Consolidated Fund, which is subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval for any form of expenditure,” Ramlogan added.
UWP leader Lennox Linton said then that the decision to pursue legal action was challenging.
“Deciding to take legal action against the government of the state is never easy, especially for patriotic organizations driven, first and foremost, by the best interest of the state,” said Linton, a former opposition leader.
But Skerrit reminded reporters that Linton, who had served in Parliament as opposition leader and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for eight years, “asked questions in Parliament, and all of those questions were responded to.
“If you go to the estimates for all of his years, you will see where the projected revenue and actual revenue indicated in the previous year. If you go on the ground, you will see the projects we say that the CBI is financing,” Skerrit said, noting that funds had also been provided to the Agricultural and Industrial Development (AID) bank for lending to hoteliers, manufacturers, and agro-processors among others including farmers and small business owners.
Skerrit said that accountability regarding the CBI program was only established when his administration came into office, telling reporters, “You can’t tell me of any project that you know of that was CBI funded between 1993 and 2000, except the Layou River hotel.”
“You never knew how much money we raised and how it was spent. But if you go to the country’s highest authority, the Parliament, you will see that the estimates of revenue and expenditure are very transparently reported.
“On top of that, we have had numerous occasions in the public domain to respond to issues of accountability and transparency,” he said, adding that he had invited the United States Treasury Department to come to Dominica to get a first-hand look at the CBI program when Washington had expressed concerns about the program.
Since then, the US government and the five countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with CBI programs, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts-Nevis, have agreed to a six-point plan that was further discussed at a meeting in Grenada this month.
A statement issued following the third United States-Caribbean Round Table on the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) in Grenada noted that delegates had discussed the principles geared toward strengthening the program’s governance and mitigating money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
The statement said the meeting discussed progress made and challenges remaining to address the Six CBI Principles agreed to by Caribbean Heads of Government in February 2023.
The statement said these Principles are the collective agreement on the treatment of denials, which includes:
- Not processing applications from persons denied applications in any of the other five CBI jurisdictions.
- Conducting interviews with applicants.
- Running checks on each applicant with the Financial Intelligence Unit of the relevant country.
Skerrit said that he is not afraid of any disclosure to be made during the court case, saying, “Everything that has to be disclosed has been disclosed in the Parliament and anywhere in the world.
“There is nothing for this government to hide. Absolutely nothing. I am not concerned about having to disclose anything. The court is an independent entity. My concern is that there is a strong possibility of staying on the program. I don’t know.
“The point is, what if there is a stay on the program? What are the implications of staying in the program? So, I am not here questioning accountability and transparency. No, I am questioning the opposition’s motivation in their relentless attacks because we have responded to every question they have asked.
“But they are not satisfied with the response that we are giving, and so if you are genuine about the program, then you should be comprehensive of your critique of the program,” said Skerrit, adding that the CBI has provided employment for hundreds of Dominicans and “touched every household in Dominica.”
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