The Price We Pay (pt. II)
We are looking at Colonization 2.0
As we brace ourselves for the results of this week's investment summit, we take a closer look at the effects of 'investment’ in Grenada over recent years. Citizenship and residency by investment programs, designed to spur economic growth through foreign investment, have attracted thousands of new citizens and residents globally. While these programs can benefit host countries and wealthy individuals alike, they carry significant risks that have already manifested in Grenada. Overdevelopment driven by such investments has led to environmental degradation, including the destruction of vital ecosystems like mangroves, increased pollution, and strain on local resources. If Grenada continues on this path, the detrimental and devastating effects on all aspects of Grenadian life could be profound. This series aims to explore these issues and the potential consequences for our island's future.
Economically: reliance on CBI revenue can create instability, as it may lead to dependence on a fluctuating source of income. In 2021, Grenada earned US$30.6 million from the CBI program. Given this substantial revenue in one year alone, it's surprising that we still seem so desperate for development and investment dollars to the detriment of our most precious resources. This only serves to debunk the myth used to gaslight nations–this never-ending need for ‘development’ & ‘foreign investment’ which mostly results in exploitation and displacement of locals, widening the chasm of classes and finally, nearly complete devastation of local environments.
Socially: it can exacerbate inequality, as wealthy individuals gain privileges unavailable to the majority of the population. With this comes an increased vulnerability to crime, trafficking and glaring class divides. All things that Grenada has managed to avoid on large, unmanageable scales for decades. In places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico, we are witnessing the displacement of local and indigenous peoples as a result of overdevelopment and foreign land grabbing.
“On Maui alone, 52% of homes are sold to nonresidents and 60 percent of condos and apartments have gone to investors and second homeowners. The once-indigenous population of the Hawaiian archipelago are now outcasts in their own home”
This has eerie similarities to the displacement of North American indigenous peoples. With more and more development and locals being driven further and further away from the geographical orbit of said ‘developed’ areas, we’ll soon be the visitors in our own homeland. Relegated to areas not chosen by us, but forced upon us. We’ll suffer disparity in resources and the food security we provide tourists as they sip margaritas on beaches we are forbidden from accessing. With these disparities crime rates and poverty will rise while foreign party’s pockets grow larger.
This isn’t some grim fairytale: it is a growing reality for small and racialised nation-states worldwide. This is a truth shown by history.
Politically: such programs can compromise national sovereignty and security. To elaborate, there are roughly 7000 CBI passports in effect which represents 6% of our population. This may seem a small amount, but not when you take into account that these passport holders now have an unequally weighted influence on political determination within our country.
Our votes don’t come with promised riches. But theirs do.
“The destruction of habitat at La Sagesse is a disaster, for both the ecology and economy of Grenada. I have spent months in Grenada over the last fifteen years having sailed from the UK. La Sagesse was a place of remote wild beauty; one of few precious landscapes that remained pristine and which are unique gifts for Grenadians and the island’s visitors.
Ecotourism is a growing industry worldwide , supporting local people. I fear Grenada has now lost the chance to seriously and sensitively develop its natural assets for the sake of short-term gains and private offshore profit.”
Diplomatically: countries offering CBIs face scrutiny and pressure from other nations concerned about security risks and the potential for misuse of these programs. In the late 1990s, Grenada opened its doors to fraudsters, licensing more than 40 offshore banks that collectively swindled foreign investors and depositors out of hundreds of millions of dollars in a variety of crude scams. CBI (in it’s current form) provides an ‘above board’ pathway for globally nefarious personalities to continue this tradition. Further, the recent controversies regarding CBI and Russian nationals during this time of war–does not help to build confidence in the way the current program is being run–compromising Grenada’s reputation and integrity as a whole. To repeat, lax CBI management is detrimentally affecting Grenada’s image on a global scale in a way that can only be described as …embarrassing.
Environmentally: Without a doubt, we have already witnessed the environmental impact of allowing foreign investors, who often have little regard for local land preservation, to acquire citizenship by investment.
Globally, the effects of such programs and the over-tourism they can cause are well-documented. These include:
increased and unmanageable pollution,
water scarcity for locals
and, in our case, direct threats (or complete destruction of) rare and delicate ecosystems and habitats of critically endangered species like the Grenada Dove and Leatherback Turtle.
Generations to come may inherit a Grenada that is nothing more than a paved-over playground for tourists, with small underserved spaces for local inhabitants to reside. Furthermore, our mangroves continue to be compromised and destroyed, which is especially alarming as they protect our island against flooding and erosion caused by torrential weather systems. This means that Grenada has become exponentially more vulnerable to flooding and similar issues during rainy and stormy seasons. We may not remain as fortunate as we have been in recent decades. Soon, we’ll be one severe weather system away from total devastation. With our best defence currently being to ‘knock on wood’.
While a Citizenship by Investment Program could offer economic benefits and opportunities for both the country and investors, it also presents significant social, economic, political, and diplomatic challenges. These factors must be carefully managed to ensure the program contributes positively to Grenada's long-term development and stability. And so far, we are not doing a good job. We stand to lose everything. This nature of exploitation can unravel socio-political fabric and environmental equilibrium at alarming rates. What Grenada has already lost in less than a decade is enough to make anyone fearful of what is to come.
Currently, there are a number of proposed and ongoing developments that help the destruction along. Local organizations are fighting to protect what is left but the opposition is formidable and the power dynamic, is imbalanced.
Last year, Grenada’s then Minister of State With Responsibility For Agriculture and Lands Fisheries and Co-Operatives, Adrian Thomas claimed “The program is such a successful program, being run under strict leadership and strict management”.
We agree with Thomas….
If by ‘success’ he means:
completely destroyed ecosystems that we can never replace
water scarcity for locals
The creation of ‘private’ beaches when all beaches in Grenada are meant to be public
And if by ‘strict’ leadership Thomas means:
allowing foreign developers to completely disregard domestic and internationally supported protocols and regulations for sustainable development
allowing public access to public beaches to be blocked to locals; and
Preventing transparent, public access to democratic process (town halls, consultations, decision-making processes)
Perhaps, then, we can get on board with Minister Thomas.
Because in that case, yes. This programme continues to prove itself to be a roaring ‘success’.
