Opposition leader Baldwin Spencer has “utterly opposed“ the decision by government to nullify the need for a Board to oversee the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP)
On Tuesday, the government amended the CIP Act to remove the requirement for a Board which it failed to appoint when changes were first made to the programme in 2014.
The Member of Parliament for the St John’s Rural West Constituency said the provision of the Board was a fundamental part of the entire programme, and any action done without its establishment should be called into question.
“You can’t totally ignore the law and then come back and say I don’t have to implement. Something has got to be fundamentally wrong with that and that is why I am making the point that one as to look at whether or not any actions taken with respect to what the Board was required to do under the Act were illegal,” Spencer told Parliament, Wednesday.
He said while the ABLP government has chastised the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) for statements made regarding the economic programme, it is their actions that could affect the credibility of the CIP.
“It is these kinds of things that create a problem. Then, you come and expunge it from the law. Doesn’t that raise all kinds of questions in the minds of not only Antiguans & Barbudans, but people in the international community?” Spencer queried.
All Saints East & St Luke’s MP Joanne Massiah
suggested that the functions of the CIP unit should be clearly outlined now that the government is removing the requirement for the Board and putting the administration of the economic programme in the hands of the Cabinet.
“Can we, maybe, in Committee Stage, seek to better incorporate some of these responsibilities under 31 so that it is clear what the unit is responsible for, so as to remove what appears to be a limitation in respect of the remit of the unit?” Massiah asked.
Massiah said while decisions for the CIP Unit will be left up to ministers of Cabinet some of the responsibilities still could be forwarded to the unit.