Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Pointe FM (screenshot)
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has shed some further light onto the government’s plans to make Social Security an investor in the refurbished Jolly Beach Resort. Speaking on Pointe FM on Saturday, Browne specifically addressed the aspect of this plan that involves the government’s Citizenship by Investment Program – detailing his vision for how the venture will work.
“What we plan to do is spruce up the rooms and sell them under the CIP program”, Browne said. “They will sell these units – 315 of them – under the CIP program, so someone who buys a room there, they will get citizenship; they will get condominium ownership of the room. They will have access to all of the amenities – the pools, the spa – everything.”
PM Browne has been a regional champion for the country’s Citizen By Investment program, a resource that he called “an economic lifeline” for the twin island state. Browne plans on utilizing the revenue potential inherent in the CIP program to bolster the viability of the Social Security Scheme.
“If we were able to – lets say over a 5 to 10 year period – sell all 315 units at $300,000 (US) a piece, that will yield in the region of about $100,000,000 US dollars”, said the PM.
The Prime Minister went on in further detail, describing what he believes to be the best possible use of the 75 million dollars of owed money that the government will give to Social Security, along with the Jolly Beach asset itself.
“We owe approximately – let’s say – 75 million for two years, and we are floating a bond; we’re gonna pay them cash. And we’re saying to Social Security, rather than putting 75 million dollars in the bank and getting 2% interest, they can take 10 acres of the Greenfield property at Jolly Beach, and build out another 200 rooms”, Browne stated. “Rooms that they can sell under CIP for $500,000 US a piece – you do the math, that’s another 100 million US (dollars).”
Prime Minister Browne has defended his plans for Social Security Scheme, pointing to the economic prowess of Jolly Beach resort even its current state.
As it is a hot-spot that has generated a lot of interest from potential buyers, the PM believes that transferring ownership of the resort to Social Security is a creative, profitable method to establish the long term viability of the scheme.
But aren’t we on the US list in regards to the CIP? Couldn’t this have a negative impact all around?
So what happens if all the rooms don’t sell. Plan B?
I don’t see this as a bad idea. The problem is usually when the government take charge of things it always ends up upside down
Finally, a creative use of the CIP that could actually benefit locals long-term. Let’s just hope the execution matches the ambition
Every time there’s a problem, this government wants to sell citizenships. Where’s the long-term economic plan that doesn’t rely on passports?
The opposition had years to fix Jolly Beach and never did. Now they want to criticize a plan that could actually work? Typical.
It’s always good to clarify these matters. Sometimes people fail to understand because they don’t want to understand