ST VINCENT: St. Vincent writes CARICOM on land issue
published: Thursday | June 29, 2006

KINGSTOWN, ST VINCENT (CMC):

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government has told the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that the island would remain "free to regulate its land use and implement land-use policy appropriate to its particular geographical and economic circumstances".

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves told a news conference that he had written a letter to CARICOM Secretary General, Edwin Carrington, outlining his administration's position on the controversial Alien Land Holding Act that "bears directly on the accession of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the CARICOM Single Market (CSM) on June 30." He said his administration believes that the current Aliens Landholding Legislation is consistent with the island's obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that led to the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) of which the CSM is one component.