On Sunday, Prime Minister Philip J Pierre spoke to Saint Lucians living in New York at a diaspora meeting where he addressed allegations regarding Saint Lucia’s Citizenship By Investment Programme (CIP).
The CIP attracted new controversy after Phillip Martinez and his MSR Media filed a Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) civil lawsuit in US Federal court alleging wrongdoing in the CIP in Saint Kitts and Saint Lucia.
“The people who can arrest are governments, no governments have ever called me as the Minister of national security and tell me anything… as it relates to our CIP,” Perre stated, then adding, “… I’m in constant contact with the US Ambassador, the US state department … no government has ever called me and told me anything about any CIP or any of my ministers who are involved in anything.”
Pierre told the room of attendees and listeners online that on a visit to Brussels, he only received a request from European officials to strengthen due diligence measures.
“They said to me that they want the due diligence strengthened because they have some concerns about migration, that’s a problem all over the world,” Pierre shared.
In another instance, Pierre mentioned, “You’ve never heard any government or any international organisation… complain about Saint Lucia’s CIP. What they say is you must improve your due diligence. You must make sure that your CIP is not a place for money launderers, is not a place for illicit money, is not a place for terrorism, that’s what they say. You must improve your due diligence, and you must ensure that anyone who gets a Saint Lucian passport is a person with a good reputation…”
The Prime Minister said his concern is that current allegations against Saint Lucia’s CIP will negatively affect the country.
Pierre also briefed listeners on plans to use funds generated through the CIP—plans he disclosed began late compared to neighboring Dominica, which has already used CIP funds for state-wide projects.
“… We started late. We’re just trying to catch up. So we put 11 million in the hospital. As we speak now, Chaussee Road is being redone… we are going to be announcing a lot of community centres, [and] a housing project is going to be done in Rock Hall…through the CIP. So, we’ve just started to use the CIP money to benefit the people of Saint Lucia,” Pierre asserted.
PHOTO: Stock image.
