I am not the type to comment on commentaries. I actually find it to be quite a bore normally. However, I found an interesting commentary out of the Caribbean that I thought was worth sharing and adding some follow up.

The commentary was written by Lloyd Noel, a former Attorney General of Grenada. It was published in the Caribbean Net News, a fine news reporting outlet in my opinion.

Mr. Noel wisely points out a political environment in the islands. He relates to anger by its citizens toward investors who come to the islands to develop on the lands.

Mr. Noel believes that the citizens of the islands, "must feel they are part of a system before they will subscribe to its moral values."

No doubt islanders in the Caribbean have a strong sense of culture and commitment to their heritage and land. There are a number of citizens of the Caribbean who feel left out, abandoned by their government and violated by business holders who they believe reap better benefits.

Indeed, many islanders who fight the system, which system might be contrary to their culture, are labeled trouble makers, Mr. Noel points out. Mr. Noel states that these islanders are also accused of their own, "selfish political agendas who are only bent on disrupting the status quo."

Mr. Noel is speaking to a matter out of Grenada, wherein "nationals and patriots", as he calls them, question the "activities at the Lagoon Basin yachting development in St George’s."

There is a similar matter occurring in Turks and Caicos, also in the Caribbean. The parallels are almost identical. A resort developer, Dr. Cem Kinay, is facing criticism by local citizens in the same fashion.

In the case out of Grenada, the locals resent the developers for having an exemption from paying taxes on the profits on the developed property. Meanwhile, in Grenada, Mr. Noel sympathizes that the citizens live in "their little houses and plots of land they also have to pay property tax, and when they are late in paying, also additional interest and fines on top."

Certainly, it is understandable that the people of Grenada might have lesser living conditions then say the businesses that establish there. Establishing land for their own use from the government is likely frustrating for local citizens.

In Turks and Caicos, a similar incident has been brewing for months. The aforementioned resort developer, Dr. Cem Kinay, has been targeted by nationals and activists in Turks and Caicos seemingly for the same reason: resentment of land acquisitions.

Article Author: CBurke

Mr. Burke is an investigative reporter from the United Kingdom reporting on legal and political matters in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Turks and Caicos was a self-governed island territory of Great Britain until August 14, 2009. …

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