by Linda Straker
- 2022 budget estimates show 49.2% of capital funding came from CBI revenue
- Over 6,500 people have paid for Grenadian citizenship through Sections 10 and 11 of CBI law
- Significant amount of revenue paid international creditors or seviced debt
Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Andall has described the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, launched in August 2014 by the former New National Party administration, as a legitimate programme aimed at raising much-needed revenue for Grenada.
“Once proper measures are put in place to vet the applicants and to ensure that they are legitimate people, investors, businesspeople coming in here, there is nothing that is philosophically wrong with the programme,” he said, responding to a question at last week Wednesday’s townhall meeting in St Patrick.
The question by Lazarus Antoine questioned the aim of the programme and what type of research the Government undertakes to afford citizenship to Russians under the CBI programme.
“I want us to be open-minded,” he said. “Russians do not have horns growing out of their heads. They are human beings just like the rest of us and we have to be very careful not to lump everybody who comes from a particular ethnic background, who speak a particular language, who speaks a particular way,” he said, calling for Grenadians not to judge other people by the action of their governments.
“Do not judge people based on what political rivals or enemies say about them. Grenada is a small country. We have no army, we cannot defend ourselves militarily…so we have to tread in an honest manner; try to be friends to all and try to not make enemies.” Andall believes what is right for one, should not be wrong for another.
“We have to be consistent and as a new government, things that we have been calling for is consistency, in the application of international law. Something must not be wrong when your enemy does it, but when your friend does it, it is ok. We are calling on all nations big and small to be consistent in their interpretation and application of international law,” he said.
“Many of the same countries that trying to put pressure on us have variants of the same programme. In fact, CBI was based on programmes initiated by many of the countries in the developed world,” Andall told the meeting.
Since launching the CBI programme, over 6,500 people from various territories and jurisdictions such as the USA, Nigeria, India, South Africa, and Russia, have successfully paid for their Grenadian citizenship through Sections 10 and 11 of the CBI law.
At the start of the Russian war on Ukraine, the Government of Grenada suspended accepting applications but resumed in April 2022. All applications from Russia must first be checked against the sanction list of the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and all countries with a sanction list of Russians.
International marketing agents have been promoting Grenada’s programme via conferences, webinars, and articles on news sites. The same is usually done for CBI programmes in other regional territories with CBI programmes, such as St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Lucia.
Grenada has earned millions with a significant amount of the revenue being used to pay international creditors or debt and fund capital programmes for the Government. The budget estimates for 2022 show that 49.2% of capital funding came from the CBI revenue which is described as source 8089 in the budget estimates.
Grenada needs a well functioning and effective hospital. Use CBI money to purchase if necessary the land for a hospital. Then negotiate with St. George’s Univ. and other Caribbean states to partner in making the hospital a medical hub in the OECS.
Grenada also badly needs walking areas. Get the Netherlands to build a boardwalk that could also serve protect most at risk costal areas.
These are great suggestions, I couldn’t agree with you more. Hopefully someone in government is taking notes…
If they can show where the money goes, that would be helpful. At present, CBI is just being used to destroy La Sagesse and Levera to build gigantic hotels….
It’s outrageous of the llittle attempt made to preserve the environment.
It’s ironic that they destroy the environment to cater to clients whose home has strict environmental laws….
Then again, Grenadians has destroyed the environment for profits. During the 80s and 90s the lagoon was a dumping ground for used engine oils. All the auto shops and gas stations oil sludge ended up into the lagoon.
There was/is advisory for eating fishing caught in the lagoon.
I remember feeling the soft oil sludge under my feet. By then, locals no longer swim or use it for recreation or than to launch a boat.
The lagoon once lots of mangrove trees which provided habitat for the egrets as locally called Galdin, crabs etc.
Some of theblocal auto shops are gone but the negative effects are still seen today.
Why is the government continues to promote and participate in this program?
CBI should be canceled. This promotes social injustice. Grenadians cannot compete with rich foreigners.
This not something to be proud about.
I disagree with the CBI. Here are the reasons why:
1. It grants foreigners rights of citizenship for money – which is a prostitution of our soverignity.
2. It gives them rights over and above the rights of native born Grenadians (no taxes on your investments or profits thereof) .
3. Apart from the sale price of the passports themselves, there is no value added, especially, in terms of our human resource capacity, from these new citizens.
4. They pay no taxes but have the right to vote.
5. But citizens HAVE to pay taxes for all of the support services that we provide to them for free.
6. It encourages money laundering.
7. Its neo-colonialism one more time.
Time to get rid of it? Maybe. But we are too lazy to do so. After all, working for the same money is much harder. Not sure we would be prepared to do that. Sad.
Well said. I don’t think I could have said it better.
You are correct about the unfair rights it gives foreign investors, Michael. I know it’s a cash grab but if we could plan on a few smart investments now with a plan to do away with the program in the near future that would be a positive move.
The program, as you said, gives those investors the right to vote in elections while Grenadians living abroad are required to establish residency in order to vote. Quite unfair! That is at least one loop hole that needs to be fixed.
The program is also the reason why Grenadians are required to pay a large amount of money to obtain visas to simply visit countries like Canada. We don’t even have a biometric facility in Grenada to process visas to travel abroad. Also no adequate representation in traditional countries to negotiate scholarships and other benefits for Grenadians.
These issues were clearly neglected by the previous government that was too concerned with benefitting persons at the top and it’s supporters to address the real priorities of average Grenadians. I am hopeful that this government will try to make some of these changes. But time is of the essence, as they say. The need to act is now.