Photo: Dr. Denzil L. Douglas
BASSETERRE ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 4TH 2017 – Leader of the Opposition in St. Kitts and Nevis, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said Wednesday he does not hold dual citizenship and never held citizenship of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
“Rt Hon Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, Member of Parliament for St Christopher 6 since 1989, former Prime Minister for nearly 20 years and present Leader of the Opposition, beloved by his people, does not hold dual citizenship, has never held dual citizenship, does not hold and never held citizenship of Dominica or any other country, except that of St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN),” Dr. Douglas said in a statement.
“Do not become distracted by the hogwash from dishonest Timothy Harris in his press conference on Tuesday,” said Dr. Douglas, who added that “instead of wasting people’s time with fake news about Dr. Douglas holding citizenship for Dominica, Harris should have come clean in his Press Conference and escape the widespread and hostile criticism from citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis, the region, his own CARICOM colleagues, ambassadors and the international community for undermining Dominica and Antigua & Barbuda in their attempts at recovery after severe devastation from recent hurricanes.”
The former prime minister who has been among the severe critics of Prime Minister Harris for watering down the St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme with the introduction of a new option called the Hurricane Recovery Fund, said Dr. Harris “should have explained with all honesty to the Citizens and Residents of St. Kitts and Nevis why he slashed by 50% the investment contribution to the Financial Option of the CIP, and selling four St. Kitts and Nevis passports for US$150,000 to create a Harris Slush Fund for himself, his family and those close to him without any support and approval from the Parliament of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Dr. Douglas is of the view that during his press conference on Tuesday “Dr. Harris should have asked forgiveness for lying and misleading the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, the region and the international community that the Slush Fund was created to help us recover from ‘serious hurricane damage’ when in a previous Press Statement Dr. Harris had praised the ‘Almighty for sparing us.”
Dr. Douglas added that Dr. Harris should have confessed that the Slush Fund has nothing to do with recovery from hurricane in St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, but will be used instead to enrich himself, his family and others close to him, and finance his election campaign.
“Harris should have apologised to the developers of St. Kitts and Nevis for undermining their development projects for the real estate option of the CIP, and also the thousands of construction workers who stand to lose employment because of the poorly thought out Harris Slush Fund operated out of the Office of the Prime Minister,” said Dr. Douglas, who called on “citizens to remain focused in our demands that the proceeds of the Harris Slush Fund be placed in the Consolidated Fund of the Treasury of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Dr. Harris has come under fire from several quarters over the introduction of the Hurricane Recovery Fund and has issued different reasons in four statements.
Opposition politician Dr. Terrance Drew said he is in agreement with critics who claim the substantially reduced contribution level is designed to undermine hurricane-ravaged Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, both of which have similar citizenship by investment programmes.
“It’s like having a brother who unfortunately is down at the moment and although you pretend to give a helping hand, has a knife stuck in the back of that same brother,” Drew said. “It is like taking advantage of the unfortunate circumstances of Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.”
Mahdi Mohammed, CEO of Guide Consultants has described Dr. Harris’ decision as “shameful.”
“This is simply a ploy, a blatantly opportunistic move to improve the competitiveness of the St. Kitts and Nevis CBI programme at the expense of their Caribbean neighbours. Dominica has lost every source of government revenue except its CBI programme and St. Kitts and Nevis is attempting to undermine even that,” Mohammed said.
Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, said the action by Dr. Harris “is a most unfortunate development. If it is implemented, it will hurt the relief and rebuilding efforts for Barbuda and Dominica, both of which were devastated. What is needed now is solidarity and joint action, not opportunism. It is to be sincerely hoped, that the decision will be reviewed and overturned in the interest of solidarity with neighbouring states that are truly struggling in the wake of these monstrous hurricanes and need every cent they can get.”
Political Leader of the Grenada Progressive Movement, Terry Forrester said Prime Minister Harris “lacks foresight and needs to understand that this is a time for the region to come together as brothers and sisters to seriously look at the many challenges facing our region and to develop medium and long term strategies to be more self sufficient and independent.”
“His decision speaks to a problem of serious systemic deficiency, which correlates to equal systemic social problems that are now affecting our region,” said Forrester.
