Dear Gregor,
On Tuesday, January 4th 2022, in an article on Dominica News Online, you delivered a scathing rebuke to comments I made on ‘Talk on the Block’ on December 30th 2021. You described as egregious my assertion that it is taxpayers’ money that is being used to build a portion of the villas at Secret Bay. You also described my comments as “absolutely false and highly inflammatory”.
Here’s my response to the issues you raised.
Taxpayers’ money funding construction of villas
Let me first respond to the issue that has deeply upset you, my position that it is Dominican taxpayers’ money that is being expended to build some of the villas at Secret Bay. I am very clear that it is the incentive of the granting of Dominican citizenship and ultimately a Dominican passport, that attracts people around the world to invest in Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI).
Let me explain the reasoning behind my firmly held belief. The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica is in the business of selling citizenship in exchange for money. The Government of Dominica, “the State”, acting on behalf of the citizens, the taxpayers of Dominica, has agreed to give up this right of citizenship in exchange for the investment of money in Dominica. All monies generated through the CBI have come into Dominica because of the Dominican taxpayers’ agreement to offer citizenship in exchange for investment.
Gregor, you give the public the impression that at Secret Bay, your company is engaged solely in private financial transactions for the sale of villas. Your argument is that you are not building villas with taxpayers’ money that you, as a private investor, are merely selling an interest in land to other private investors. The question is: Are CBI investors actually buying an interest in land or are they buying “citizenship ?. I would argue that, but for the right to Dominican citizenship and to obtain a Dominican passport, these investors would not buy a square foot of land or property at Secret Bay. These monies would not have come into Dominica – and by extension Secret Bay- if the taxpayer/citizen of Dominica had not sold that right of citizenship in exchange for cash.
Absence of full disclosure and lack of regular updates can affect accuracy of reporting
On my programme, ‘Talk on the Block’ I stated that Secret Bay had plans to build “an extra forty-two (42) villas. I also said I understood that the villas were going at US$7 million per villa. In your response, you referred to an agreement in 2019 between the Government of Dominica and your company to build 42 villas.
You further stated that it works out at US$1.75 million per villa and clarified that these villas are not part of the CBI programme. I now understand that the villas currently being built are part of the total of 42. I humbly accept that the information I gave on the “extra 42 villas” as well as the projected sale price per villa was not accurate.
But if the contract between the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica and Secret Bay Residences had been made public as well as the publication of regular project updates, there would have been no ambiguity or uncertainty about the number of villas completed, those under construction and those in the pipeline. A contract involving the Government of Dominica and a private sector entity like Secret Bay is a matter of public concern.
You disputed my claim that the cost of the 42 villas is $60 million. But you have not made public the projected cost. In the interest of transparency and in defence of the public’s desire for greater openness, I urge you, Gregor, to publish the true figure.
Conclusion
I hold strong to the view that money collected through the CBI programme is taxpayers’ money.
Citizenship is a very special right and privilege. The Governments of Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to name just two in our region, have taken the principled position that their citizenship is not for sale.
The Government of Dominica has taken a different position. As our Government is in the citizenship/ passport trade on our behalf, it is an inescapable reality that monies received under the programme ultimately belong to the citizens/taxpayers of Dominica. The Government, on our behalf, directs how that money is spent. It is a fact that the developers must always be aware of and conscious of.
The CBI programme has been a lifeline to the Dominican economy for more than a decade. But there are inherent dangers in the programme. Over the last three decades thousands of Dominican passports have been sold. The selling of our citizenship, given our small population resident here, threatens the future political, social and economic stability of this small island. We ought now to put a ceiling on the number of passports we sell.
The world is increasingly becoming more unpredictable. The Covid-19 pandemic and with rising geopolitical tensions in certain parts of the world, coupled with the negative impacts of climate change, Dominica may be one of the few places in the world to seek refuge.
Can Dominica absorb within the next decade thousands of economic citizens? I think the time has come for the people of this country to decide, through a referendum, whether they want the CBI programme to continue in its current form. If we continue selling passports at this rate, we could lose Dominica.
Sincerely,
Sean R Douglas
Host- Talk on the Block Q 95 FM.
February 14th 2022
I am an Accountant for my sins. FCCA now. I run my own Practice in Kent, England. I like to work with spread sheets and forecasts of profits and Losses and Balance sheets with Assets and Liabilities.
Actually this morning I am working with one to determine if a company can afford a £100,000 distribution to shareholders before 31st March 2023 its year end. The forecasts attempts to project what the income for the 12 months to 31st March 2023 will be, based on a combination of actual and and projected data. There are also a number of assumptions that underpin the forecast. For example that the cost of borrowing money will be (say) 5% for the duration of the forecast. The longer the forecast, the more unreliable the assumptions about interest rates, income, asset and liability values.
An international airport is a long term project, with between 25 and 50 years to pay back. So many uncertainties will attach to the project. Dominica is also in a volatile part of the world…
Nassief V Douglas ctd.
Robert Bernard Douglas (RBD) once told me over a bottle of beer in Portsmouth: ” Mitchell, there will always be room at the top for better men, so go to England and do ACCA.” ( July 1980). I was leaving Dominica for England. He had previously offered to employ me to as an accountant over his estate- Bleinheim, Supermarket and Restaurant. I worked with Coopers and Lybrand at the time. I of course declined.
We must be very careful when we are talking about big numbers. $50 million in Bank Loan interest alone, is still quite a large number for Dominica. I am just not yet convinced that we have the where with all to repay back this massive loan.
This young man-Sean Douglas reminds me of his mother or (grand mother) :Nurse Douglas ( from Jamaica), who married Mike Douglas- leader of the opposition. Maybe they should reveal what heavy cash is running into and out of the citizens by Investment program in Dominica, and yet convince us that we can afford…
Well, it is good to see a debate between a Nassief and a Douglas over ownership of the spoils of the sale of Dominican passports., which are apparently the only valuable thing we have left to squabble over in Dominica.
Douglas representing the past world war 2 brigade who made their money from Curacao and Royal Dutch Shell on the one hand, and Nassief, whose family originate from Lebanon and made their money from trade.
Yesterday I wrote about the debt service costs of the new international airport at USD$1 million per week. With Floats selling for between USD$1.75 and USD$7.5 million, maybe I stand to be corrected, that Skerrit can afford the price tag of USD$1 billion for the international airport, and that people like me should just shut up. It is not our business how Skerrit conducts his affairs.
I will remind both contestants in the debate, that their grand parents started from humble beginnings. RBD used to sell a Truck of Copra to Nassief every day from his estate…
You really think its that simple? That it’s all about tourism? My friend, what we have here is a man, Skerritt and his mates ripping off a country’s people by selling their passports and keeping the money for himself. You think that’s OK?
What else can lazy Dominicans sell to anyone other than passports? Passports are an easy sell that just requires only a printer, paper and suitcases for Dominican ministers to carry the passports as they travel internationally to dish them out to anyone who wants them.
Skerrit is just a businessman put in place by his Freemason mates in powerful positions not only in the Caribbean but worldwide just so that he can do what he does and quite frankly, lazy and gutless Dominica deserves to be ripped off by him.
Bravo, Sean. Well done!
The idea of tax concessions for developers and who wins and who loses is as old as time. In NY we have the 421-a and Low-Income Tax Credit LIHTC programs designed to incentivize private developers for constructing multiple dwelling buildings. In Dominica, it’s no different. The argument is very simple: Developers employ people, purchase building materials, hire architects, engineers etc. throughout the building process in exchange for these benefits. They’re also assuming all the financing risk and repayment with interest to complete their ventures. We all know that there are benefits to the developer long term, but the other option is Government owned and control hotels and villas. Just look at the Moroccan Hotel fiasco in Portsmouth and you have proof positive how ineffective governments are in completing simple ventures.
I understand the point that Sean is trying to make, but I must disagree with him. No one that I know in any country willingly gives the state itself any direct payments, except through taxes. The US has a CBI Program as well. Invest 1 million United States Dollars into the country and you’re afforded instant citizenship. If your purchase any property or other assets, they belong to you and not the state or jurisdiction where they’re purchased.
Ok you two, just get a room – no pun intended
It’s a flawed system of dog eat dog, winner takes all. It’s inherently corrupt, so, let the fittest survive. Communism is even worse.
Isn’t this what capitalism & free enterprise all about?
Taxpayers money means money paid over to the Government in taxes and other forms that in effect belongs to the taxpayers or to the people. Is Mr. Douglas saying that an investor who buys real estate or a villa in Dominica, that the money paid to the company or person who is selling them the real estate or villa, does not belong to the person making the sale, but belongs to “taxpayers”, to the Government? I enjoy listening to Sean on the radio, but he is not connecting the dots on this one.
You are the one not connecting the dot, the Investor is buying citizenship and his payment for the citizenship is invested into a hotel or other real estate so he is called an investor, in reality the government just sold him citizenship.
It’s not surprising that Gregor Nassief came out with guns blazing against the leader of the opposition, Lennox Linton, for an interview with CBS about the CBI program and it’s shenanigans. Since them we have had much more scandal to do with the program egs Monfared, NG Lap Singh, Madweke, and many others yet Gregor’s voice has been missing in action. Why? Is it that he’s only concerned about making money? Be wary of the Judas’ and the proverbial thirty pieces of silver.
So, as the government has now taken over the running of Kempinski Cabrits (as it’s way tooembarrassing for this CBI project to fail) doesthat now mean we the people own it ? If so, let’s have a vote – who is in favor ofshutting the monstrocity down ?
As far as I know Kempinski do not own the hotel, but run it on behalf of the owners under a management contract for a fee. I do not know who the actual owners are and the title may well be registered in the name of an untraceable off shore entity but it is my believe that some of them may well have close links to the government because of events taking place there.
I have a very good idea who the owner is. The mere fact that the government of Dominica in general and that dictatorial leader in particular are keeping stumm about the entire subject tells me all I need to know. When are the people of Dominica going to hold their so called leaders to account??
Mr. Douglas is stretching the definition of taxpayers money. A foreigner, purchasing an investment in Dominica as a result of a government incentive, is not considered taxpayers’ money. It is important to realize that Mr. Nassief is taking on a lot of risk in building the villas since the government is not guaranteeing.anything. So Mr. Douglas has the option to gather a group of investors to also take advantage of this government incentive.
@jaded, you are saying that the incentive provided by the government of Dominca doesn’t have any value and you couldn’t be more wrong. Since the citizenship has valve then there has to be proper accounting. In business there is something called “goodwill” and it has value. Therefore we who value the citizenship of our country demand that we receive proper accounting for this most sacred and valuable asset, “Citizenship of the Commonwealth of Dominca”. You seem to want to separate the electrons, the protons, the neutrons from the cells, since the investments are in exchange for citizenship and the government of Dominca is giving the citizenship on behalf of all Dominicans, then our asset is intimately ingrained in the CBI program and thus it’s our business. Let Me Nassief take risk, which is part of doing business, nothing new here, but that doesn’t absolve him from seeking transparent accounting for the asset of the country and it’s people. I see financial terrorism in…
You are over thinking this. Governments create and maintain an infrastructure to accommodate and to facilitate industry and commerce. Roads, electrification, potable water, lower taxes, lower import duties, are also part of government largess. When you think about it, every person and business takes advantage of government largess. The sale of citizenship is just another incentive. Do not ignore the spillover effects of this incentive. The economic money multiplier works wonders with the expansion of businesses.
What is so difficult to understand that the Government is in the business of selling passports, you may argue as to its benefits, that’s ok, some islands have decided its not worth it but Dominica has decided otherwise and selling passports is Dominica main and arguably only industry. Dominica sells the passports and decides how the money is spent, when an investor invest in a private hotel and receives citizenships, all that means is the investor purchased citizenship and his cash was invested into the Hotel plain and simple, this nonsense about citizenship as an incentive is just fodder for the masses. I think it a great way to fund capital projects and funding for private enterprises, a great use would have been to use CBI monies to repair Ross facilities and a few targeted apartments to get them up and running after the hurricane. I must confess that after 17yrs of CBI and billions and billions in revenue I have not seen the economic benefits to the population, we are worst off.
Dominica assumingly needs to have tourists for its economy. Some of them stay in villas. Studies have shown that these high end visitors arriving on a private jet on average spend 65,000 US$ per trip (151,200 Eastern Caribbean Dollars) by just visiting a destination. So, if you don’t want them, simply tell them that they are not welcome in Dominica because Dominica’s economy doesn’t need their money as it is flourishing as it is or that you cannot provide the desired accommodations anyway. St.Maarten calls itself the “Friendly Island”. Looking at some of the comments below, Dominica apparently doesn’t want that reputation. Yet, many people from Dominica come to St.Maarten because they can make more money there then on Dominica. Not to mention the Dominicans who decided to live in the USA. So, it is very simple. Just choose whatever option you like and tell these visitors whether they are welcome or not or not even desired as guests.
If we view tourism simply as a means of making money, we reduce the “industry” to the realms of prostitution. On the other hand a visitor – regardless of financial status – who is sympathetic to the island is a welcomed asset.
Development should not be directed foremost to making Dominica a haven for tourist, but for retaining the island’s identity and advancing it’s wealth of natural assets for present and future generations of Dominicans. The abundance of those assets, if properly managed, would reduce poverty, with or without tourism.
@Cdr. Bud Slabbaert, you are way off in left field. Dominicans are lobbying for proper accounting in reference to the CBI program carried out by the corrupt Skerritt government on behalf of the citizens of Dominca. You are alluding that those who comment on this topic don’t want high end tourists. Where the hell do you get that notion from? You are of the view that transparency and accountability don’t matter once development is seen. You are entitled to your view and to take which side you want but stop spreading misinformation. Why doesn’t St Kitts just go ahead and do what you want to see happen without accountability. No one is stopping St Kitts. However patriots in Dominca want development and accountability.
Gems Holdings is also listed in Dubai, with Jay Sunny Varkey, an Indian national as its director, resident in Dubai. The company is a shareholder in Gems Global Schools ltd. Dubai does not normally give citizenships to foreigners and it would be not unexpected if individual is also the holder of a Dominican passport.
Okay, you spent your time researching about Gems Holdings but what about you taking your time to think and understand The CBI program and the benefits it has brought to Dominica over the years, isn’t that not worth looking in to. What Dubai does is their business, they are an economic power house, and they are interested in the CBI program, why shouldn’t we https://www.arabnews.com/node/1765006/business-economy isn’t it time for us as Dominicans to focus on building our Country and stop creating that negative atmosphere for a Political agenda that wants to engulf us.
I thought you’d encourage research, better yet we should just take your word for it?
Gems Holding and Gems Education in Dubai is a UAE education institution https://www.gemseducation.com. Gems holding in Dominica is a Dominica company focused on hotels and real estate http://www.gems.dm One has nothing to do with the other, but we so desperate to find a reason to hate.
You mean this is all pure coincidence then. Pull the other one bro. Gregor really opened a can of worms here I believe. The man protests too much.
Mr. Douglas I must applaud your long written letter although some part of me think that it was not necessary because these so-called men don’t carry the pods but only have cocoa. We are all aware that despite them being cocoa-men that they do read all of the comments that are directed at them. I would like that you Mr. Gregor take special note to paragraph # 3. Mr. Gregor give this cocoa to whom it belongs and with your pods (if any are left) be truthful and transparent with the people about this entire affair. Don’t just talk but disclose all related documents, and by this the Dominican people will not be here guessing. Be a man. Show us the documents. Listen to the voices of the people. Show all the document and show them Now without delay).
Sean well done!!!
On the issue of a referendum for the stoppage of the sale of the passports, something in Dominica code must have a means to create a petition can be drafted and presented to the public for proper amount of signatures in order to put the referendum to the parliament???
Just like they did for that elections reform survey,,,
But then again it’s a one sided Voting scheme going on there so we are left with
naught,,,
https://www.cercatechnology.com/en/about-us/leadership/
Read about Gregor from that link!!!
This is where Gregor made his money, allyou doh think he could bring some of this business Structure Dominica way to give people some real tech-industry jobs???
What people need to do is to treat people like Gregor Nassief and Sam Raphael like the “Enemies of State” that they are for just taking the little that Dominica have for themselves,,,
And Mistadem is Big Businessmen you know that can bring real commercial interests to Dominica!!!
Sean well done, lol the next election you go and start a campaign to get him to run in Portsmouth, so he can go to Parliament and ask for a referendum to stop the CBI. Reading such comment like yours, sometimes I just want to ignore it for its worthlessness and move on, but I will tell you the people whom you call Enemies of State are not in any way affected by your opinion, neither is it going to stop them from doing what they love, creating their brand in the Hospitality business that is unique to Dominica that the rest of the world will embrace.
https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2007-11-19/the-jungle-bay-story
https://secretbay.dm/media/secret-bay-named-as-a-top-caribbean-resort-in-the-conde-nast-traveler-2021-readers-choice-awards/
Please tell me, does these two business entities show evidence that their owners are somehow enemy of the state of Dominica. What kind of mind would conceive such a thing.
Yes, I listened to Nassief recently speak at a Valda Henry conference. He dropped out of university to start Cerca Technology, and the company now has offices and clients in some 20 countries. And instead of us admiring that success, and being grateful he has returned to Dominica to invest and create jobs in hospitality and real estate, all we have is hate and jealousy in our heart. Lord Help Us.
Guess you would consider taking the Ross University facilities and turning it into a call center real progress right???
Only Jah knows,,,
How much of Nassief’s return on investment is uplifting the immediate area where his establishment is located and is fueling real progress nationally???
From time allyou have been treating these foreigners as gods!!!
Stop allyou foolishniss and start thinking straight for allyou self,,,
How many people you know that’s in Dominica on a sustainable retirement from being another person’s Servant!!!
Just Like OldMan Nassief didn’t make no real change to Dominica’s economy so too this Dude is gonna take all his money and send back to his people just like all them other Syrians,,,
Why don’t you post his bio nuh for all to see, and you so foolish you didn’t even see the issue about him not considering Dominica as one of the 20 countries,,,
Wonder how many farmers he has contracts with as suppliers???
The problem here , Sean, is that if this ever comes to court, it won’t be decided by what we think our what our opinion is . It will be decided on documents and evidence. If a CBI investor is ever called to testify and is asked “What did you buy? ” The answer i going to be ..”I bought and investment in Secret Bay Villas.. that is where my money went” The fact that he is given Citizenship in the country as an incentive to invest does not make his money ours.
I understand your point fully…. But it is going to require some legal gymnastics on your lawyer’s part to overturn Nassief’s grievance if he pursues legal redress.
The comments by Sean Douglas vis a vis Gregor Nassief make no sense because
he is trying to tie everyone who invest for personal gain or shareholders to a quasi partnership with the govt to sell Dominican citizenship. CBI is not a new concept and it’s an investment tool used in developed countries as a creative piece of an investment plan. Get used to it Sean and support our little island and its attempt to ameliorate the economic plight of our citizens. This is only hot air and no substance.
Marcellus my boy you are not thinking right. Developments like Gregors get concessions, that is duty free imports including vehicles so we do not collect the usual tax to pay our bills. Secondly they get tax concessions, usually for 25 years. This means they do not pay a cent on the profits they make and they can send these profits anywhere in the world, So again, we do not collect the tax that a regular business would pay. It is the treasury that misses out on that, the treasury that has to pay our government’s bills and finance social programmes. Get it?
That Douglas,guy has a bag of chips on his shoulder this guy is a born loser attacking everyone, anyone high profile Labour supporter where on earth he got the idea Mr Skerrit, Government was funding Mr.Gregor Bassist, Business with tax payers money, have you got proof of such accusations Mr. Nassief should sue you for millions of dollars, only in Dominica people think that they have a right to say anything and get away with it. just because the Law is dated and backwards now is the time to move forward update the law with the rest of the world! Otherwise we will always have guys such as Douglas, and people like him taking the p**s out of good citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica!!!!
“Can Dominica absorb within the next decade thousands of economic citizens?”
Valid question. The current government should give a report on how many Dominican Passports have been sold under the CBI from its inception. This is definitely not sustainable.
“I think the time has come for the people of this country to decide, through a referendum, whether they want the CBI programme to continue in its current form.” Full support!
Mr. Douglas I would like you to address the practice of men in high places (doctors and lawyers) who falsify Wills in order to claim lands which are not rightfully theirs. Help the ordinary citizen understand the process in contesting these land grab practices and why are they allowed to continue through the courts even when the courts find that they are misleading and misrepresenting their claims. They are basically attempting to steal land with no consequences. Get the AG to explain how one can stop this from happening.
#OneLoveDominicans! #OLD
Sean, I think you are stretching the meaning of taxpayers money. If there is no direct infusion of money from the treasury, it is not taxpayers money. Stop trying to defend the indefensible.
We have already lost Dominica. While we still have an elected Government and some political control, albeit with an MOU with China which is non of our damn business, and we still do not know what is in that agreement. It is obvious that economic control of this island is long gone from the hands of Dominicans. Just take the issue of the Prime Minister’s mansion. Our Dominica tax payers are paying rent to a foreign company for our Prime Minister to rent a house in Dominica! Yes, read that again! And most of the money raised by the Government for the sale of passports through the CBI programme does not go through the Treasury of the Government of Dominica but an unaudited and unaccountable ESCROW account! Yes read that again! And Dominicans are okay with this because now and then they get a free this and a free that from the Government! But we know that nothing is really free! So we shall pay the price when the invaders put our grandchildren outside in the future!
You are so right my brother.
From reliable sources I know that St.Kitts/Nevis would welcome luxurious villa development. It also offers a CBI passport with passports. The program has flexibility. Besides an international airport with a luxurious FBO and international reputable executive aircraft handlers. It has two 18-hole golf courses that are attractive for high-end clientele and for investors. It has a marina appropriate for yachts upto mega size. If Dominica doesn’t welcome development by Gems Holdings Comp, St.Kitts/Nevis most likely will. Serious investors and developers always have options elsewhere in the region where they are more than welcome.
Great!!!
Send those Bastards to St. Kitts and Nevis then, and steer them away from our Nature island!!!
Bossman Rastar don’t know how much traveling you do but take a trip to St Johns Virgin Islands and see how many of them Albinos took over that place and Pushed out the Local Virgin Islanders,,,
This is real people Sean has a point,,,
There is no more allocation of Land so when the times get tough in those other 1st world countries, guess where those people will be forced to go,,,
Rastarman this is reverse racism you preaching there man and I must condemn it. You are having the same attitude you accusing the so-called “albinos “. of. You really believe you have to be black to be Dominican. Man, we have all shades of brown and in between you can imagine and to be honest I like that and remember most of our forefathers, including the “albinos did not come from here but mostly Africa and Europe. We are not Europe or Africa but a right mix of race and colour and culture we should celebrate that man. It is a blessing trust me.
Great message to those who perpetuate a Political agenda with willful ignorance, and an adamant behavior that resembles a cult. The question that should be asked, is how much Dominica can leverage from The CBI within the next decade building a foundation to achieve a position as a top-notch destination in the region and the world, not about how can Dominica absorb within the next decade thousands of economic citizens. Economic citizens like all other citizens pass on, but it is the investment made by these Citizens that would live on for the future generation, great example The Marigot Hospital and the proposed International Airport.
@Gary, I’ve got news for you, man. In the capitalist system in America and I’m assuming in other countries as well, many investments are allowed to deteriorate. When the US opened up to China, many investments here were allowed to deteriorate that’s why middle America has the problems that they have with economic decline, unemployment, drug and opioid abuse and you name it. For some investors these investments is a convenient mechanism to launder stolen and ill gotten money so they don’t sweat over a few thousand dollars . Keep living in your dream world that these investments will live forever. Welcome to the real world. Do you really believe that Monfared and Madweke really value a few thousand dollars invested in Dominca? Think of the so-called due diligence done by Labor cabal and yet international crooks and criminals got citizenship. Fish rotten from the head down, that’s all I’m saying. Dream on.
If I understand you correctly – Dominica the ‘Nature Island’ should put amenities in place for rich, mostly caucasian people, to come and have a blast at the expense of Dominicans. The majority of Dominicans will have limited to no access to these amenities and will mostly be servants.
It reminds me of the plantations
I have said it before, thank God like minds like yours are not involved in the decision-making of the Country as it regards future development
and progress, they belong on the fringes. It is unfortunate that you did not understand my comment, that is okay.
Your analogy is faulty. The people buying into St. Kitts” CBI program are investing for the better part in projects of national interest, unlike those of Dominica who for the better part appear to be just paying with cold , hard cash which is then hidden in escrow accounts with no checks and balances and used for dubious purposes. The lack of transparency is killing us.
What makes my analogy faulty, lol. Your willful ignorance does not make my analogy faulty, your inability to see a Hospital in Marigot built with monies from The CBI and an Airport going to be built from CBI funds, isn’t those two funded projects of National interest, what is it that makes you think that what St, KItts is doing is different from Dominica or any of many Countries around The world who have CBI programs, the sole purpose of which to get investors to their Country to invest in their
economy creating Jobs, bottom line, isn’t that the people’s interest or as in Dominica a designated project like a Hospital.
Do you really believe that monies from Dominica CBI funds held in escrow accounts for specific projects are held there for dubious purposes, what pathetic display of ignorance and admittance to that cult thinking and perception permeating in the country. You know, it is not the lack of transparency that is killing us, but ignorance in the face of facts.
Well said Sean Douglas , those guys are all about themself , they dont give a xxx about the citizens of Dominica . I wonder what he thinks of ELECTORALREFORM
Great Come Back
I love Sean as he wants the best for this country, he has strong morals and principles. He is not all about his pocket as some other individuals are. I have great respect for the man… but I cannot lower myself to those who are not doing what they do for everybody here.. they just want to feather their own nest and take from others then try to hide it in fancy words.
Big up Sean!
You like Muhammad Ali dere boy!
If it wasn’t for CBI I don’t know if secret bay would be expanding with villas.
Sale of our passports!
Here we go again,a confused man trying to confuse Dominican.He admits he does not know the full facts by saying”I urge you Gregor to publish the full figure.”The guy is saying what he want to say,then asking Gregor to clarify.Sean must explain to Dominicans whether the programme is a passport selling programme or a CBI programme.Every citizen of Dominica have to pay for a passport.I am asking is the passport the property of the state or the property of government?.Is the passport the property of citizens or the property of government?
Sean Douglas is certainly correct in stating that the world is increasingly becoming more unpredictable and (for those financially able) Dominica may be one of the few places to seek refuge.
Let us hope that an influx of wealthy residents does not result in gated communities.
What makes Sean Douglas, certainly correct that the world is increasingly becoming unpredictable, is it his adamant behavior. It is unpredictable for you to know the outcome of the challenges you are about to meet, but always be prepared for a new perspective, be transformed by the renewing of the mind.
Mr. Sean Douglas, it is imperative that people of your calibre, your level of intelligence and influence, muster the courage to speak truth to power. I applaud you for standing stoutly against the existential threat that the leader of the DLP, his Fat Cat friends and cabinet of loose cannons pose to resident Dominicans. Bravo to you!
Expect the harshest pushback from unprincipled money hoarders, like Mr. Nassief, for them, money trumps everything else in life.
Continue to brave the torrents of ad hominem attacks coming your way from their empty vessel supporters. Give them the ‘Water off the duck’s back’ treatment. All fair, honest and patriotic Dominicans, in their heart of hearts, know your efforts are pure and unselfish. It’s pellucid, your advocacy is solely for love of country, whereas, the other fellow is all for the interest of monetary gains.
@That Ibo, always singing from his rear end hopping one day he will get a free food ticket back to Dominica, ha ha ha it will never happens anytime soon, having said that if you do come back I have a job suitable for you to clean septic systems tanks it’s not an intended insult but in my mind you are the ideal person!!!
There appears to be some ambiguity in ” Over the last three decades thousands of Dominican passports have been sold. The selling of our citizenship,…”. This should be clarified.
If I invest in an enterprise who does the money belong to?
Spank, Spank, Spank Now take your medicine and be quiet. Hahaha