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MIAMI BEACH, Oct 27 2016 – A senior member of the Andrew Holness administration has said that Jamaica will not go the route of some of its Caribbean neighbors who offer Citizenship by Investment Programmes.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the model is “fraught with danger” adding that while it has worked in some parts of the world “it has been devastatingly dangerous for others”.

Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Grenada and Dominica all offer wealthy foreigners the opportunity to invest in exchange or citizenship.

However, Bartlett told reporters attending a Shared Ownership Investment Conference here this week that his country will not be taking the risk “especially in today’s uncertain world”.

He said “with safety and security issues that abound, issues of terrorism and the emergence of Islamic State, one has to be very careful”.

“People want citizenship for all kind of reasons,” the Jamaican minister said.

Bartlett told reporters that the Andrew Holness government does not see (CIP) as a viable option for economic development.

According to him, “an open model which provides citizenship for economic reasons is always going to be difficult”.

Jamaica at this time is not pursuing that course at all and we believe there are other options for development and economic growth that are worth pursuing.

“In some cases it has even caused the fall of governments,” he added.