Whilst Harold Lovell selectively purports that all is well with Antigua's investment rankings with the Paris Club, and the Government now seeks to launch fresh sovereign bonds, the reality of an international backlash gathers at an increasing pace.
The Euromoney country risk ranking of Antigua at the bottom of its list, well below all other Caribbean nations, with only Equatorial Guinea, Burundi and Eritrea listed still lower, should not and cannot be ignored. It speaks loudly to a climate of governance which eschews international standards of reason and decency.
Another American Congressman has now raised his voice against Antigua's response to foreign direct investment. On Wednesday, 6th July 2011 US Congressman Michael Coffman placed on the Congressional Record his reminder to The U.S. House of Representatives that Antigua continues to stonewall its obligation to compensate the American owners of the Half Moon Bay Resort for the expropriation of their property, in total disregard of international treaties and its own laws and Constitution.
The CONGRESSIONAL RECORD now reads:
"ANTIGUA'S BREACH OF BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
HON. MIKE COFFMAN OF COLORADO IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
"Mr. Speaker, I would like to renew a discussion of an ongoing situation which requires our attention.
The expropriation of the Half Moon Bay Resort in Antigua, owned and developed by a group of American citizens since 1971, was entered into the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD almost three years ago by my predecessor, the Hon. Thomas Tancredo (September 24, 2008—E1891).(Editor's Note: Treaty Breaches In US Congressional Record 9 December 2008 www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=69636)
I would remind this House that the expropriation of this internationally recognized Resort has been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings from 2000 to June 2007, when the Privy Council in London allowed the Government of Antigua to ''forcibly acquire'' the property under its sovereign right of eminent domain, provided the owners' rights to payment of compensation were equally upheld.
Since that date, four years ago, the dispossessed owners have had to initiate a number of legal actions against the Government of Antigua to move the process of arriving at compensation as prescribed by Antigua's own laws and Constitution.
At this point, three issues still remain before the Courts: two in the Eastern Caribbean High Court and one before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. The subject matter of the cases has to do with the value of the property as established by a Government appointed Assessment Board, and with the owners' Constitutional Right to ''fair compensation within a reasonable time.''
By request of the Attorney General, representing the Government in each of these cases, the hearings scheduled for dates in the first half of this year have been adjourned without a return date being set.
The hearing before the Court of Appeal may occur during that court's next sitting in Antigua in September, but the Attorney General has already ignored a filing deadline ordered by that body, which may cause further postponement of that hearing.
Meanwhile, Antigua's Ministers have announced various agreements that are being signed with developers for the Half Moon Bay property.
Even more outrageous is a statement released to the Antiguan press by the Attorney General (who is also Antigua's Minister of Justice and Minister of Legal Affairs) that such re-development can legally commence prior to any compensation being paid to the dispossessed American owners.
It is an established fact that expropriation of American-owned property and business is a breach of the Caribbean Economic Basin Recovery Act (CBERA) and by ignoring the rights of the owners to prompt and fair compensation, the Government of Antigua has also breached the WTO International Trade and Investment Rules.
I urge the President, as mandated by the terms of the CBERA, to suspend Antigua's benefits and rights accorded to preferred trading partners. While the financial effect of such alienation may be negligible, the political aspect of recognizing the breach is essential to maintain respect for the treaty and its signatories. Our citizens deserve no less."
It will be interesting to see if the US Authorities, and others, will now properly execute their public duty or risk future claims of complicity and negligent acquiescence.
In the meantime, while certain officials in Antigua put their personal agendas before their public duty and spin their fiddle as they play while Rome burns, international rating agencies and legitimate investors will continue to take very serious account of such notable public record in completing their risk assessments and due diligence on Antigua.
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