FYI Elaine — my family has invested in Bermuda for 120 years

The words about St Kitts written by my fellow Sun columnist Elaine Murray last week amused me.

Had she visited, it would have saved me having to educate her about the facts about St. Kitts.

She wrote: “I believe in Bermuda and I’m not giving up… I hope that his recommendation to invest in St Kitts comes from that place in his heart when he thinks about his family and the many Bermudian families who have ties to St Kitts. His cerebral cortex, however, knows better.”

Lesson one

My family has invested in Bermuda for over 120 years. My great grandfather had multiple farms and properties in Devonshire and Pembroke. Most of Parsons Road belongs to persons who originated from St Kitts. 

I myself have recently built an apartment and business complex in Friswell’s Hill. However, the economic reality is that, at nearly $30 per square foot, the cost of land in Bermuda is out of the reach of most working- class Bermudians. 

Compare that with $8-10 per square foot in St Kitts. Pretty much sums that up for any smart investor.

It is called diversifying one’s portfolio. Buy at the lowest rate possible.

Families such as: Christopher, Joaquin, Martin, have done well for themselves investing in SKN. St. Kitt’s is as much our home as Bermuda.

Elaine also wrote: “Bermuda already suffers from too much money leaving the island.”

Lesson Two

Money leaves the island because we have many guest workers earning Bermuda dollars and sending their money back to their respective countries. I don’t think Elaine is going to go to ACE or XL, and tell the folks earning $150,000+ per annum, not to send their money back to Canada, UK or US.

Elaine, again: “You can pretty much buy property or land without too many restrictions.”

Lesson three

St Kitts and Nevis has over 100 square miles of land, and a population of only 50,000. So of course land is readily available for sale. In Bermuda we have 21 square miles to share between 65,000 persons. Forty per cent of which is owned by non-Bermudians.

Opening more property for sale to non-Bermudians will increase property costs. The Immigration expert from MPI, that the OBA brought in, confirmed that this will happen. We need restrictions or we will have no property left for Bermudians.

Elaine wrote: “The people of St Kitts and Nevis want money and they want foreign money because that is the only way they can build their economy.” 

Lesson four

Elaine’s country of origin, the US, has borrowed a few trillion dollars from the Chinese. Imagine that, the great capitalists, have had to borrow from the great communist, in order to build their economy. 

Lesson five

Elaine has no interest in learning about St Kitt’s beyond typing it up on Wikipedia. The sole purpose of her last two columns is, like that of OBA MP Glen Smith, to try and persuade Bermudians to accept commercial immigration as a positive move.

Had she been to St Kitt’s, she would have learned that the CI programme has many flaws in it. There has been very little progress for the common Kittitian from CI.  The only persons who have directly benefitted are; lawyers, real estate companies, persons looking to dodge taxes... not unlike those looking to benefit from CI here in Bermuda.

I do like Elaine, but what more can I expect from someone who supports the OBA, Boston Celtics and Boston Redsox? 

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