Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has denied trying to hand over the Canouan land lease to investor Ian Wace, who said he contributed US$25 million to the recovery effort in the Southern Grenadines, following the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2025.
Gonsalves and the leaseholder, Andrea Pignataro – who Fobes said has a net worth of US$36.1 billion — have been at loggerheads since 2023, as no further sale of lands in the leased area has taken place since 2017, denying the government revenue.
He suggested that the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) supports Pignataro while his government is on the side of the people, and that this will be an issue in the Nov. 27 general election.
Gonsalves has given further details of a letter he wrote to Pignataro on Oct. 24, informing him that the government is offering to pay him EC$36.5 million for the remaining land in the leased area.
The prime minister has also proposed a meeting between government officials and Pignataro’s representatives to discuss the offer.
“If the developers were to do the worst while we are discussing [and] send home people, I give them the undertaking that the government will continue to pay their salaries,” Gonsalves said on Boom FM.
He, however, said that the government was not saying that it would run the resort.
“I’m just telling you, I would expect that, if any action is taken adverse to the people, the employees, that the government will ensure that they suffer no damage,” the prime minister said.
“And I expect this matter to be resolved soonest, but certainly within a six-month period, we may well then have litigation.”
It was noted to Gonsalves that he might not be prime minister in six months, as the electorate will choose a new government on Nov. 27.
“The point about it is this issue is therefore on the ballot. The people of Canouan will have to decide whether they’re going to go with Friday, who had a meeting with the developers,” he said, referring to Opposition Leader Godwin Friday.
As he announced the election date on Oct. 28, Gonsalves told party supporters and media audiences to ask Friday about the boat on which he travelled, where he went at Mandarin hotel for two hours and who he met there.
“You know what they conspiring? Some people who don’t want change in Canouan want to hug up Friday for him to continue to defend the non-activity which is taking place in the north of Canouan,” the prime minister said.
Asked about this on Boom FM the following day, the opposition leader said:
“Well, what you want to know is basically my business. You want to know who I talk to, what I do and so forth? I am preparing for government…
“I don’t conceal nothing, because I am basically preparing for government. I talk to business people, I talk to farmers, I talk to fishers. I talk to everybody, because I want to have a good sense that when we form government, the day after the election, I can hit the ground running.”
Meanwhile, Gonsalves said the “big picture” is the interest of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“And I am on the side of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. … So, the people of Canouan have to decide, do you trust Ralph either to renegotiate this matter, or to move in a different direction, or you’re going to have Friday who going mollycuddle the existing developers.”
Gonsalves said none of the residents of the resort on Canouan have said they would stand in the place of Pignataro.
“The government does not intend to run the resort. … I’m sure that there are persons, investors across the world who may have an interest,” Gonsalves said.
And I don’t know what these discussions will bring forth, but I’m telling you immediately this matter is on the ballot for the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and also for the people of Canouan,” Gonsalves said.
“If they decide that, well, we want a man who is going to mollycoddle the current developers, you get Friday…” he said.
“But if you want somebody who is going to address this issue, root and branch, and to do it in the interest of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have you known me to be reckless?” Gonsalves said.
Before coming to office in 2001, Gonsalves had criticised the 99-year lease that the NDP government signed with investors in 1990.
The lease placed two-thirds of the 1,200-acre island into the hands of investors and allowed them to sell the land for freehold.
However, after coming to office, the Gonsalves government leased even more lands to the investors and appeared to have a cordial relationship with them.
This was the case even as islanders continued to complain about access to beaches on the island, marketed as the place where the world’s billionaires go to escape the millionaires.
Then, in September 2023, Gonsalves began to complain about the limited revenue coming from the development in the north of Canouan.
Gonsalves complained about the issue again in February 2024, even as the government was being asked to spend US$40 million to rehabilitate the Canouan Jetport on which it had spent EC$20 million 17 years earlier.
The jetport in Canouan remains closed for night flights.
The problem is knowing what to believe when it comes from Ralph Gonsalves because he is a serial liar and therefore his word cannot be trusted.