Antigua & Barbuda

Barbuda’s Unending Disaster

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The case of Hurricane Irma’s impact on Barbuda provides a significant example of what is often termed “disaster capitalism.” It is defined as the exploitation of natural disasters by governments and corporations to push through policies or projects that would otherwise face resistance, typically for economic or political gain. Residents of the island of Barbuda say that is what is happening to them. Irma, a catastrophic category 5 hurricane caused more than USD$220 million damage to homes and infrastructure on the island of Barbuda.  It also left a path of extreme environmental destruction on the island. The storm ripped the roofs off many homes and buildings, power poles were toppled and debris was scattered across the landscape.  The police station was largely destroyed, medical services halted.  Official estimates indicated 95% of structures on the island were damaged or destroyed. 

What surrounded the approximately 1,500 inhabitants as they abandoned their tiny island on September 6, 2017 was utter destruction.

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Antigua & Barbuda

Climate-Proofing Education: How Antigua & Barbuda is Tackling Rising Temperatures

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Thousands of students who have headed back to school in Antigua and Barbuda since September, are being impacted by severe heat as global temperatures continue to rise. The heat is putting young learners in an environment that is not only uncomfortable but it affects the quality of education they receive. If they cannot stay focused, they’re not getting that information that is communicated. It affects their ability to perhaps even recall or even do the exams sufficiently because the body is already under pressure to get rid of that heat.Climatologist, Orvin Paige

Our research found that the heat is not uniformed all across Antigua and Barbuda. Orange Valley and Five Islands tend to record the highest temperatures, creating additional challenges for students in these areas, while Freetown experiences comparatively milder conditions.

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Citizenship by Investment

Dominica

Unanswered Questions Undermine Credibility

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The Commonwealth of Dominica is one of five countries in the Eastern Caribbean that allows persons born outside of the state to obtain a passport for a one-time fee or real estate investment through its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme. The programme began in 1991 to support areas like tourism, manufacturing, low-cost housing, infrastructure, agriculture, and healthcare. The Caribbean Investigative Journalist Network (CIJN) found that Dominica is heavily dependent on the CBI programme and that more than half of the government’s projected growth in revenue for the fiscal year 2021/2022 is expected to be financed by the CBI. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit in his latest budget address declared that CBI  will contribute 58% percent of Dominica’s capital budget for the Public Sector Investment Programme. The Public gets a glimpse of some of the CBI earnings during Dominica’s annual National Budget presentation. 

This table depicts the reported contributions for CBI’s Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) over the last five years:

CBI Total Yearly Revenue for the Period 2017-2022

YearCBI Revenue in USD2017-2018$148,146,7762018-2019$83,086,5172019-2020$67,538,9022020-2021$109,841,9092021-2022$171,612,697Figure 1.1 (This figure does not include monies collected under the real estate option of the CBI)

Between 2017 to 2022, the country collected more than USD$580M from CBI applications and investments from its Economic Diversification Fund – one of two options to gain citizenship via the programme.

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