Denzil Douglas urged to resist IMF on disposal of state lands

THE MAIN opposition People's Action Movement (PAM) is calling on the St Kitts and Nevis government to halt what it says is the "unchecked" sale of state lands to foreigners.

The party is also urging the administration of Prime Minister Denzil Douglas to reject a recom-mendation by the International Monetary Fund, which suggested the government speed up land sales in an effort to reduce the multibillion-dollar national debt.

"The government should resist the urge and reject the recommendations to sell our lands to foreign entities. Over the last 15 years, and in particular the last four, we have seen massive tracts of government lands, being sold to foreign investors at cents per square foot," said PAM deputy political leader Eugene Hamilton.

"If lands are to be sold, they must be sold to our people, not to foreign investors. Foreign investors, if they are truly serious about investing, should be willing to lease the land to construct their projects and pro-perties rather than the government selling the people's land and eventually shrinking the opportunity for our children and grandchildren to own a piece of the rock."

PAM said following the lockdown of the sugar industry, thousands of acres of government lands became available but that a significant amount had been sold to foreigners.

Hamilton said he was also concerned about the disparity in the amount of land allocated for locals and those sold to foreigners.

"I must express concern and gross opposition to the government's land-distribution and sale policy which seems to favour foreigners over hard-working local farmers," said Hamilton.

"While less than 200 acres of land were allocated and leased to local farmers, almost 1,000 acres was sold to foreign investors in just two projects during a similar period. This disparity is cause for concern for our people. It must not be accepted by our citizens that foreigners can own while the locals lease."

- CMC