19/12/2019: Basseterre and Port Zante
Though we have hired a car for the holiday we don't want to use it everyday and, despite the warnings of our self-adopted nephew, Lewis, decided to try and head down to Basseterre by bus.
Though there are bus stops, you can just hail one by the side of the road. Buses have strange names, no destination signs and are recognisable by their green licence plates.
At the bus stop by the clock tower in Dieppe Bay, a local gave us advice on how to catch the bus. He hailed the first but it was only going to the next village before turning back. There is definitely a local accent or dialect here which is quite difficult to follow with its own beat and emphasis.
On the way there is a beautiful beach were we saw a man on the sand with his motorbike taking a selfie.
Eventually we caught a bus to Saddlers, a couple of miles away which is a bigger settlement. We would change here. Chickens pecked around the bus stop whilst we waited. Most minibuses are 13 seaters and the drivers are maniacal. It was soon full and we sped on into town and down to the port.
It seems we were the inadvertant observers of some St Kitts history the other day. We saw three huge cruise ships in the port. In fact four huge cruise ships had docked simultaneously. It was the first full use of the second pier that had recently been constructed. This means that 12,000 passengers disembarked in one single day - that is more than the entire population of Basseterre.
The funding of the second pier is interesting. It was funded by the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis Citizens Investment Programme. Ever since 1984 the Federation has been offering "select global families" (for that, read rich) the opportunity to become a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis for a one-off contribution (gift) of $150,000 USD to the economic and social development of the island. The Citizen's investment fund represents about 1/5 of the islands GDP and funded the second pier.
We had discussed this buying of a second passport scheme earlier this week with Steph and Lewis. It has some strange consequences.
Google St Kitts citizenship and there seem to be a plethora of agencies that will offer to help you buy a second passport, not just for you but your entire family and consequentially their descendents.
Why would you want a second passport? Well, a St Kitts passport gives you unfettered visa free access to aroung 150 countries of the world. This unfettered access is not freely available if you travel for example on a Russian, former Soviet bloc, Chinese, Iranian or certain African passports. You may also have personal or political reasons for not wanting to use your original passport.
St Kitts isn't unique in doing this, other Caribbean countries do it as indeed do the US and UK. The issue is the cost of doing it as in the UK it is much higher -£2 million for a Tier 1 Investor Visa.
However countries like the USA and Canada have recently become wary of these citizen-by-investment schemes and are worried that some shady chareacters might be buying passports to get access to their countries and become involved in nefarious activities. Both countries are worried that undesirables could qualify without due diligence being done on their identity and history.
What seems unclear to us is the long-term benefits of such a scheme. The payment is a one-off and we don't think there is a residency requirement for these citizens-by-investment to live on the island. Therefore there is no on-going income source for the government.
Furthermore, it is not just one person, but whole families who can be eligible with the right level of investment so this could potentially create generations of St Kitts citizens who have no cultural or otherwise attachment to the island and its well-being. Given a small population of 80 k, this could have ramifications later. We're also not sure about whether these citizens-by-investments can vote. Potentially they might have different interests than the wider population and be able to dictate future policymaking.
However, the concerns shown by the US and Canada are inversely reflected by the countries that are the source of some of the citizens-by-investment. China does not really allow dual nationality and Russia is looking at the issue too.
What seems unfair to us is that whilst poor people die in boats and containers on the way to Europe, trying to find a better life for themselves, where they want to work and secure a better life for their families, those with the financial wherewithall (however it was gained) can bypass the system and write a large cheque and contribute little or nothing to the well-being of that nation after.
Another curious consequence of the Citizenship-by-investment programme is the property market. Steph and Lewis pointed out a small house that they said was in rather bad repair that was on the market for $400,000 USD (around £300,000). You can buy a passport by investing in approved property at or above this price mark.
Here are the government's own guidelines:
The wine seemed to cause some confusion too as we ordered Cabernet Sauvignon but a white wine turned up. When the red (Chilean, of course) did arrive it too was chilled but soon warmed up in the humid heat.
A quick trip to Rams again and then we walked up to the bus station to locate a bus running home. We asked drivers and one said he was going to Parson's Ground which is the village before Dieppe Bay. We knew we could walk the rest. Once the bus was full it sped off and the driver extended his route to Dieppe Bay for about 70p more.
We walked down to the beach past the closed BBQ hut just as it was getting dark.
Eventually we caught a bus to Saddlers, a couple of miles away which is a bigger settlement. We would change here. Chickens pecked around the bus stop whilst we waited. Most minibuses are 13 seaters and the drivers are maniacal. It was soon full and we sped on into town and down to the port.
It seems we were the inadvertant observers of some St Kitts history the other day. We saw three huge cruise ships in the port. In fact four huge cruise ships had docked simultaneously. It was the first full use of the second pier that had recently been constructed. This means that 12,000 passengers disembarked in one single day - that is more than the entire population of Basseterre.
The funding of the second pier is interesting. It was funded by the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis Citizens Investment Programme. Ever since 1984 the Federation has been offering "select global families" (for that, read rich) the opportunity to become a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis for a one-off contribution (gift) of $150,000 USD to the economic and social development of the island. The Citizen's investment fund represents about 1/5 of the islands GDP and funded the second pier.
We had discussed this buying of a second passport scheme earlier this week with Steph and Lewis. It has some strange consequences.
Google St Kitts citizenship and there seem to be a plethora of agencies that will offer to help you buy a second passport, not just for you but your entire family and consequentially their descendents.
Why would you want a second passport? Well, a St Kitts passport gives you unfettered visa free access to aroung 150 countries of the world. This unfettered access is not freely available if you travel for example on a Russian, former Soviet bloc, Chinese, Iranian or certain African passports. You may also have personal or political reasons for not wanting to use your original passport.
St Kitts isn't unique in doing this, other Caribbean countries do it as indeed do the US and UK. The issue is the cost of doing it as in the UK it is much higher -£2 million for a Tier 1 Investor Visa.
However countries like the USA and Canada have recently become wary of these citizen-by-investment schemes and are worried that some shady chareacters might be buying passports to get access to their countries and become involved in nefarious activities. Both countries are worried that undesirables could qualify without due diligence being done on their identity and history.
What seems unclear to us is the long-term benefits of such a scheme. The payment is a one-off and we don't think there is a residency requirement for these citizens-by-investment to live on the island. Therefore there is no on-going income source for the government.
Furthermore, it is not just one person, but whole families who can be eligible with the right level of investment so this could potentially create generations of St Kitts citizens who have no cultural or otherwise attachment to the island and its well-being. Given a small population of 80 k, this could have ramifications later. We're also not sure about whether these citizens-by-investments can vote. Potentially they might have different interests than the wider population and be able to dictate future policymaking.
However, the concerns shown by the US and Canada are inversely reflected by the countries that are the source of some of the citizens-by-investment. China does not really allow dual nationality and Russia is looking at the issue too.
What seems unfair to us is that whilst poor people die in boats and containers on the way to Europe, trying to find a better life for themselves, where they want to work and secure a better life for their families, those with the financial wherewithall (however it was gained) can bypass the system and write a large cheque and contribute little or nothing to the well-being of that nation after.
Another curious consequence of the Citizenship-by-investment programme is the property market. Steph and Lewis pointed out a small house that they said was in rather bad repair that was on the market for $400,000 USD (around £300,000). You can buy a passport by investing in approved property at or above this price mark.
Here are the government's own guidelines:
"In 1984, the Citizenship by Investment Program of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was created to encourage resort development, stimulate growth of the tourism industry, and attract investors. Foreign investors may become eligible* to apply for citizenship by making a qualifying investment in a designated real estate project, such as Christophe Harbour, which is approved under the real estate option. While the Federation’s program requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background check, approval for citizenship usually takes only about 12 weeks.
- $400,000 USD or greater real estate investment within a qualifying project, plus application fees paid to Government.
- The real estate investment is a recoverable investment. You can sell it after 5 years, and the next buyer will qualify for citizenship.
- No build requirement
- Applicants are not required to visit the country personally but will need to retain services of a government-approved intermediary to assist in the application process.
- The granting of citizenship is at the sole discretion of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, and approval is not guaranteed for any applicant."
So you can buy a passport by buying property here, never actually live here and sell it on to another citizen-by-investment applicant 5 years later and keep your passport. You can just buy a patch of land and do nothing.
The consequence of this is that it distorts the housing market and makes prices artificially high. So the house that Lewis and Steph pointed out might not be in a good condition but it's worth the owner putting the property on the market at $400 k as a cheap way for people to get a passport. This means better properties are similarly inflated. It makes such houses out of the reach of ordinary people.
So end of rant and back to the big ship in the harbour.
Port Zante, where the big boats dock, is a pierhead selling souvenirs, duty free goods and has a few food outlets. It's not that big given that 12,000 people can arrive in a single day. But once disembarked, there is a whole industry of tours you can go on to island attractions or just doing the coastal road.
Basseterre, for a capital city, has a small centre with few places to eat. There is the Circus with its green clock tower that has lots of snack bars around its edges, some made from shipping containers, but most were closed when we visited.
There's a park called Independence Square overlooked by the cathedral with a waterless fountain at its heart. The lay out of the park when seen from the air is meant to represent the Union flag. The park has an ignominious history as the space was originally used for selling enslaved people from Africa.
Basseterre, for a capital city, has a small centre with few places to eat. There is the Circus with its green clock tower that has lots of snack bars around its edges, some made from shipping containers, but most were closed when we visited.
Alongside the park were open food outlets. Some were not going to be mobile anytime soon. We saw a Rastafarian van selling vegan food but were not brave enough to try.
Finally we found the Lemongrass Restaurant that had a balcony overlooking the town. Ominously it described itself as a fusion restaurant which usually means a mish-mash of lots of different dishes.
We were right - curries, mexican, chinese - so we opted for the quesadillas and chips! Joan had a Piña Colada but wasn't sure where the pineapple went!
The wine seemed to cause some confusion too as we ordered Cabernet Sauvignon but a white wine turned up. When the red (Chilean, of course) did arrive it too was chilled but soon warmed up in the humid heat.
A quick trip to Rams again and then we walked up to the bus station to locate a bus running home. We asked drivers and one said he was going to Parson's Ground which is the village before Dieppe Bay. We knew we could walk the rest. Once the bus was full it sped off and the driver extended his route to Dieppe Bay for about 70p more.
We walked down to the beach past the closed BBQ hut just as it was getting dark.
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