Richards accuses government of silence as EU deadline on CBI nears
The PAM leader says St Kitts and Nevis is in trouble and must prepare for the possible closure of its citizenship by investment programme.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts. Leader of the People's Action Movement (PAM) Shawn Richards has accused the government of withholding information from the public about the future of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, as a European Union deadline for a decision approaches.
Mr Richards, the Member of Parliament for Constituency Five, said the country faces serious economic difficulties and needs urgent action to prepare for a possible closure of the programme.
"St Kitts and Nevis is in trouble," Mr Richards said.
He accused the Labour administration of being more concerned with managing information than managing the country's affairs, and suggested that difficult decisions may be held back until after another election.
According to the timeline Mr Richards set out, EU officials wrote to St Kitts and Nevis and four other OECS countries on 25 June asking them to close their CBI programmes. At a meeting in New York on 23 September, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, officials asked for decisions by the end of October. A technical meeting in Brussels on 28 October then extended the deadline to 12 November.
The options presented by the European Commission, he said, are to continue the programme and accept a suspension of visa-free Schengen access, to end the programme by June 2028, or to announce an intention to close while seeking a longer transition.
Mr Richards said CBI was meant to complement tourism and attract investment, not to become the government's main source of revenue, and warned that the fallout could affect jobs, development projects and social programmes. Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew said on Thursday that the government is still gathering information and will issue a statement.
