Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has revealed that for the fiscal years 2017- 2020, some 5,814 applications have been approved under the Citizenship By Investment (CBI) Program, bringing in a total of over $1.2 billion dollars.
In a response to a question asked in Parliament by the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister reported that in fiscal year 2017-2018, one thousand, six hundred and seventy-three (1673) citizenships were approved as follows: one thousand seventy-three (1073) under the Government cash option, two hundred and eighty five (285) under the Montreal Management Consultants Est. (MMCE) housing cash option, one hundred and eleven (111) for children and dependents under the cash option and two hundred and four (204) under the real estate option.
For fiscal year 2018- 2019, the number increased to 1,926 as there were five hundred and seventy-nine (579) under the Government cash option, eight hundred and two (802) under the MMCE housing cash option, seventy-seven (77) for children and dependents under the cash option and four hundred and sixty-eight (468) under the real estate option.
The number of approved citizenships further increased to 2215 in 2019-2020. According to the prime minister, there were three hundred and ninety-six (396) under the government cash option, one thousand fifty-seven (1057) under the MMCE housing cash option, three hundred and nineteen (319) for children and dependents under the cash option, while four hundred and forty-three (443) were approved under the real estate option.
In terms of CBI generated revenue, the Prime Minister disclosed that three hundred and seventy eight million, six hundred forty-two thousand six hundred and ninety-two dollars and forty-two cents ($378, 642 692.42) was earned in 2017- 2018, four hundred and eight million, seven hundred and eighty seven thousand, thirty-four dollars and twenty-three cents ($408, 787 034. 23) for 2018-2019 and for the year 2019 -2020, four hundred and sixty three million, six hundred and seventy-eight thousand, four hundred and nine dollars and four cents ($463, 678 409. 04).
Based on the information presented by the Prime Minister, the total amount of money paid for citizenships under the CBI program for the fiscal years 2017 to 2020 is one billion two hundred fifty-one million one hundred eight thousand one hundred thirty-five dollars and sixty-nine cents ($1, 251 108 135.69).
Linton’s question to the Prime Minister asked for the number of citizenships approved and the amount of money paid for the approved citizenships broken down by economic development fund, housing real estate, and any other citizenship access options and receipt disbursement and year end balances for all special finds, trust funds, escrow accounts and other accounts operation with money derived from and or connected to the CBIP.
The part of the Leader of the Opposition’s question which asked for receipt disbursement and year end balances for all accounts connected to the CBI Program, was not answered in the House.
Meantime, Minister for Health, Wellness and New Health Investment, Dr Irving McIntyre, has indicated that the new Marigot Hospital is being constructed by Montreal Management Consultant Establishment (MMCE) with funds from the CBI Program.
Dr. McIntyre was responding to a question from Opposition Leader, Lennox Linton, in Parliament on Monday. Linton asked for the tender requirement for the design and construction of the Marigot hospital and health center pursuant to the provision of the Dominica procurement act, the date of the issues of tender, the names of the companies to whom the tender was awarded and the accepted tender price.
The Health Minister stated that the construction of the hospital and health center was undertaken as a project approved by the government and funded under the Citizenship By Investment Program (CBIP).
“The company to whom the contract was awarded is Montreal Management Consultant Establishment . This company has delivered previous projects of high quality and within satisfactory time frames,” Dr. McIntyre responded.
He added, “Agreements for approved development authorizes the project developers or developer to procure such goods and services detailed in its approved project development proposal and budget which would allow it to deliver both the Marigot hospital project and the health centers within the stated time period.”
As it relates to the funding of these projects, McIntyre disclosed that MMCE is utilizing financing secured from its own sources and government has agreed to recompense MMCE for construction of the said facilities by providing to them allocations under the Citizenship by Investment Program from which the company will be permitted to recoup and raise the financing required to construct those facilities.
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