January 2017 | Business View Caribbean

6 7 opening lines and corruption exists all over so I don’t think we in St. Kitts and Nevis and Dominica despite the CBS show, I don’t think we need to be daunted or despair,”Astaphan said. Medical doctor and commentator Patrick Martin told WINN FM on Wednesday that he sup- ports the view that Caribbean CIPs are being targeted by the American media. “I have noticed over the years that programs and writings coming out of the larger countries tend to be stereo- typical, painting the Caribbean islands in a not so positive light. They tend to descend upon us to report what they think is bad news,” Martin said. However, Astaphan reiterated that American CIP-type programs are also under media scrutiny. “While CBS might With claims being made by the Dominica Prime Minister and various people on social media that Caribbean citizenship by investment programs (CIPs) are being unfairly targeted by the CBS net- work in the United States, former St. Kitts and Nevis Minister Dwyer Astaphan has offered an explanation. “The media in the United States, while CBS was down here pushing our buttons so to speak, ABC was also doing the same to the American program and this is how things improve, people are going to be people. We’re not perfect, some of the sys- tems we put in place are not perfect and if we are people of goodwill and committed to erasing inef- ficiencies in the program and corruption generally, we will improve as we go forward. Inefficiencies Former St. Kitts-Nevis Minister Weighs in on Caribbean Citizenship Programs Astaphan described econom- ic citizenship as a legitimate industry with a global reach. He suggested that the 60 Minutes passport exposé may have done some good for the Caribbean citizenship by in- vestment business by alerting some Americans looking for a second or third passport. dwyer astaphan