BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FORMER government minister Dwyer Astaphan has criticised the treatment of successive governments towards local investors, stating it is “a glaring example” of their failure to send proper signals to the local investment community.
Astaphan was pointing specifically to a matter that has been deadlocked since the days of the previous People’s Action Movement (PAM) administration up to the current tenure of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP).
The case in question involves native Kittitian Loris James, who in 1986 purchased over 400 acres of land in the West Farm area. However, the then PAM government acquired the lands for a public purpose and did not compensate James for his investment.
The change of government in 1995 did nothing to resolve James’ situation. According to Astaphan, the SKNLP has been “similarly frustrating” to James, although when in opposition it had promised to deal with the matter.
Speaking as James’ proxy, Astaphan called on Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas and Attorney-General the Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant to compensate him as quickly and expeditiously as possible. He pointed to the inaction by both administrations as a failure to give the public the right message.
“Mr. James is a legitimate investor. He paid good, honest money to purchase land in his place of birth. He has tried to discuss and negotiate with governments for the past 23 years and has gotten nowhere. This is a glaring example of failure in government to send the right message to locals who want to invest in the country,” declared Astaphan.
The former Minister of National Security said that while the current law was blind and does not favour foreign investors over local ones, successive governments have not been sufficiently proactive in updating the law and ensuring the right signals are sent to local investors.
He stressed the need for increased public ventilation of development deals and highlighted the Christophe Harbour development as an issue that was not being treated properly by government.
“There needs to be more discussion of transactional and corporate agreements within our society. For instance, I do believe there has been enough public engagement and discussion of Christophe Harbour in all quarters. I welcome development that will be in the best interest of the people of the country, but projects of the scope of Christophe Harbour need more ventilation than they have gotten.”
