Citizenship Act Returns to Lower House

Details

Economy

Friday, 01 February 2013 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. John's - The Citizenship by Investment Act was again brought before the House of Representatives on Thursday. The bill was first introduced last year, and after significant debate in the Lower House, was surprisingly shelved in the Upper House.

The mover of the bill, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, explained to the House on Thursday that by the time the bill made its way to the Senate, the government felt it needed to be re-examined.

“We decided that we will bring this bill back again for consideration of this honorable House,” he said, “and as I had pointed out earlier, there are some areas that needed to be fleshed out.”

Molwyn Takes up Cell Tower Issue Antigua St. John's - Senior Member of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and Member of Parliament in St. Mary's North Molwyn Joseph has taken up the proli... read more

He noted, however, that for all intents and purposes, the main areas of the bill – some eight sections – remain as previously presented.

The presentation took place as a small group gathered outside the Parliament building to protest the sale of passports.

Some of the changes include a sentence describing the role of the minister. The government is now seeking to expand that definition to give it greater clarity and clearly establish the role of “minister,” in this regard.

The PM also pointed to some further reconstruction of definition, and an overall explanation of the unit that will be established to govern the programme, making it clearer and more expansive, with details of the civil servants and responsibilities for accounting and reporting to the minister.

“That explains the establishment of the unit and the fact that these individuals will be categorized as non-established employees and not covered by Chapter 7 of the Constitution as it relates to being a public officer,” the prime minister said.

The bill lists 14 regulations that include a bi-annual parliamentary oversight that mandates that a report of the progress of the programme be submitted and discussed in the House of Representatives at the beginning of the first and second halves of the year. This must be done with “sufficient detail to allow for transparency and accountability”.

It also expands upon the basic and general requirements and procedures for citizenship by investment; the rules for and categories of investment; and the promotion and dissemination of information regarding the program. The latter point was cause for concern by then leader of the Opposition Lester Bird, who was absent from the House during this second presentation.

“We have improved the legislation in the areas where we considered it necessary so to do. But the main pellets of the bill remain,” the prime minister stressed.

He added that all House representatives should be aware of the content and intention of the legislation, suggesting a reduced need for additional debate.

“I am satisfied that this is going to be an effective tool for economic development… we are talking about creating jobs for the people… We have made sure that at least in the legislation, we have placed a degree of emphasis to ensure that our system is not discredited,” Spencer said.

Zone III Math Quiz Competition 2013 Antigua St. John's - Zone III schools is once again hosting its grade level math quizzes this month. The objectives are geared towards improving stude... read more

The PM reiterated that the same concept of this proposal exists in many major countries around the world under different names, but with similar mechanisms.

Finance Minister Harold Lovell moved to support the bill.

Debate will begin at 9:30 am today.

• < Prev
• Next >