🇱🇨 When the Numbers Tell a Story: Chastanet and Frederick Agree—$240 Million from CIP!

Politics, as fiery as it gets in Saint Lucia, sometimes produces rare moments of accidental agreement between rivals. That’s exactly what happened this week when former Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and current Minister of Housing Richard Frederick—two men who rarely share a political sentence without sparks—ended up confirming the same financial truth: the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) brought in an astonishing $240 million between March 2024 and March 2025.

  Richard Frederick’s Revelation

In a recent public address, Minister Frederick proudly declared that Saint Lucia’s CIP generated EC$240 million in just one year, describing it as one of the programme’s strongest performances since inception. His tone was triumphant—proof, he said, of investor confidence and the administration’s success in managing the programme.

“The CIP brought in between March 2024 and March 2025 about $240 million. Are you hearing me? Two hundred and forty million dollars in one year!”

That statement was meant to showcase economic achievement—a feather in the government’s cap and a signal that Saint Lucia was performing well on the international investment front.

  Chastanet’s Counterpunch

But politics is a chess game, and Allen Chastanet, the former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition, immediately seized the same figure to challenge the government’s credibility.

Speaking on the campaign trail, he echoed Frederick’s own words to drive home a question Saint Lucians have been asking for months:

“Phillip J. Pierre said he made $240 million from the CIP. So, where is the money? Why do we still have the 2.5% Health and Security Levy? Why are gas prices still high?”

Chastanet argued that if the country indeed raked in such a large sum, there should be visible relief for citizens—lower fuel costs, lighter taxes, and better services. His wider point was that the government, despite record revenue, still claims it cannot complete major projects like St. Jude Hospital, which he said now carries a combined price tag of nearly $400 million over four administrations.

  The St. Jude Factor

Here’s where the debate gets even more interesting. Chastanet told supporters that the government called early elections because it cannot finish St. Jude Hospital.

According to him:

• Dr. Kenny Anthony’s administration spent around $100 million,
• Philip J. Pierre’s administration has since spent $300 million,
• And yet, the hospital remains unfinished.

While the exact numbers may differ depending on which report one cites, few would deny that St. Jude has become a symbol of prolonged political failure. For over sixteen years, the hospital has been rebuilt, redesigned, relocated, and re-budgeted—each administration pointing fingers while the people wait for a functioning facility.

  The Common Thread: Accountability

Regardless of political color, one fact now stands beyond dispute—$240 million flowed through the CIP in a single year. That’s Richard Frederick’s number, and Allen Chastanet’s argument simply amplifies it.

What separates them is not the data, but the direction of the question:

• Frederick says, “Look how well we’ve done.”
• Chastanet asks, “Then why is the country still struggling?”

And that, Saint Lucians, is where accountability meets reality. It is not enough to boast of millions earned; the nation must also see where and how those millions were spent.

  The Bigger Picture

As Saint Lucia heads toward the December 2025 general elections, both men—one in government, one seeking to return—have handed voters a gift: proof that the money exists. The challenge now is to demand clarity.

If $240 million entered our national coffers through the CIP, the public deserves to know:

• How much went into the National Economic Fund?
• How much was used for actual projects?
• And how much remains in reserve or unaccounted for?

  Final Word

For once, Chastanet and Frederick are singing the same note, even if to different tunes. The CIP is producing big money, but unless that wealth is matched by transparency, relief, and visible national development, Saint Lucians will continue to ask—loudly and rightfully—“Where is the money?”