By Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Questions are being raised about Ms. Ying Jin, CEO of Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate, who attended the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas.
Ms. Jin’s presence at the UNGA has sparked public debate and has prompted questions as to why and in what capacity she was invited to be seated with the St. Kitts and Nevis UNGA delegation.
Efforts to reach Dr. Douglas for comment were unsuccessful.
A number of people took to social media to raise questions about Ms. Jin’s presence at the UNGA. WINN could not reach Ms. Jin for comment at the time of writing.
One person said, “I agree with Mr. Astaphan. The government has to give a reliable answer.”
“What was she doing there? Who invited her? What’s going on? She is not a diplomat for the country or is she? And if she is, that needs to be corrected immediately. Neither was she a dignitary or a national icon,” were the questions Astaphan raised.
Additional questions were raised related to the national prison project which Caribbean Galaxy is associated with.
During his appearance, Tuesday (June 21, 2022) on the then PAM-sponsored radio show called “The Movement”, Jonel Powell, the PAM Candidate for Central Basseterre, also questioned the construction of the prison.
“The prison is being built, in terms of financing, is similar to what we did with the Park Hyatt. A developer comes in, presents a project and they are allocated ‘x’ number of shares which represent citizenship which they can make available to the investors. The only difference with this particular project is that when it is completed, it will be turned over to the government to manage and to operate which means that the government did not have to find the money to build the prison,” Mr. Powell said.
Press Secretary to Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, Mrs. Adelcia Connor-Ferlance, told WINN that Ms. Jin was not a member of the delegation but rather attended the UNGA following an invitation by Dr. Douglas.
Dwyer Astaphan, in a recent commentary, said, “why was she allowed to sit there when our Tourism Minister Marsha Henderson was in New York at the time and the exposure and experience of sitting in the assembly would have done her some good or in the absence of Minister Henderson, why not select a deserving young Kittitian or Nevisian studying in the area to get the exposure and experience?”
