Last Updated on December 3, 2025, 5:30 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The East Coast Housing has filed a lawsuit against the government of St Kitts and Nevis and the National Housing Corporation and accused the tow organizations of Fraud. The Smart Homes project was one of the flagship initiatives announced by the government of St Kitts and Nevis after they took office in 2022.
The government utilized the services of the East Coast Housing to deliver on these promises which the organization has been unable to. After nearly two years of showing no progress, the developers are trying the shift the blame of the matter entirely on the government.
The reality of the matter looks at a plethora of different aspects including the involvement of a highly notable political figure in the lawsuit directly as the government’s opposing counsel.
Other aspects include the side of the Homeowners who were waiting for the construction to begin after having received all the approvals from the relevant authorities.
Finally, the issue of land availability being an inherited problem which needed significant paperwork, due diligence and other formalities to wade through
Involvement of prominent PAM Leader, Azard Gumbs
In this development, what is interesting to note is that the lawyer representing East Coast Housing in the court of law against the Government of St Kitts and Nevis is Azard Gumbs, member of the opposition political party PAM (People’s Action Movement). The lawyer of the allegedly aggrieved party has been a vocal opponent of the SKNLP Led administration.
Gumbs has been outspoken about his dissatisfaction and has on several occasions openly attacked sitting Members of the Parliament on social media. While he openly opposes the government on the matter, his being the attorney of the East Coast housing rings serious alarm bells.
The experts would argue that it would be difficult to ascertain if the attorney has taken the case for the genuineness of the facts or simply to further his political agenda.
The Public Tells a different Story
While the East coast housing argues that the government has been causing the delays and trying to cover up their failure by blaming the organization, some public accounts tell an entirely different story.
A source very close to some of the landowners who were set to receive homes under the government led initiative has claimed that while East Coast goes on to claim that the government was not delivering on certain agreements, homeowners who had completed every formality and were ready for construction to begin on their land were stalled by the developer. Some of the homeowners have even alleged hat the developers stopped taking their calls.
This raised the questions that if the developers were waiting for the lands to be approved and homeowners were coming to them with loans and land ready to start the construction where did the developers face issues in starting construction.
The same source, on Social media claimed that these home owners had to go back to NHC and apply for traditional NHC Houses because of the delays caused b the developers.
Inherited issue of land availability
When the government had announced the 2400 climate smart homes project, the issues of land procurement and the associated due diligence and other procedures which had to be done were not expected to be time consuming. The SKNLP government has faced some issues in land procurement which may have caused some delays for the developers.
However all of this was clearly stated in agreements which the government signed with the developers. The East Coast Housing does not appear to have a stong basis for the accusation of fraud and lying on the government.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
