![]() It has been reported that the Chinese have vacated the Sam Lord’s Castle property and like Paradise, Merricks and several other tourism projects scattered across the island have been left to rot. ![]() Maybe, just maybe this project will be completed. What is positive about the Hyatt project is that there is an individual driving about Barbados in a duty free gifted Mercedes associated with the project. Another project with a similar feel is the hotel to be built next to the liquidated Liquidation Centre on Bay Street reported to be managed by Hyatt when completed. Sam Lord’s when or if completed will be operated by hotel management company Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. It is approaching 2 years since the former government broke ground at Sam Lord’s Castle to mobilize a loan of $170 million from the Chinese Export-Import Bank. The most recent occurrence – deliberately destroyed by government with the blessing of the Barbados National Trust – an archeological find at Fort George. It is useful to remind Barbadians that Sam Lord’s Castle was built in 1820 and like Paradise and several other historic sites have been allowed to run to ruin. In 2015 the former government negotiated concessionary financing to restore the historic Sam Lords Castle. Shame!Īs if it is not enough for our leaders to demonstrate contempt for the electorate and continual misuse of public funds seen at Paradise Beach, the potential exist for the same to occur at another idyllic and historic location. To rub salt in the wound Avinash Persaud and Prime Minister Mia Mottley played leading roles in what is popularly referred to as Four Seasons project. It is an unpardonable sin what we have permitted and it is time Barbadians wake up and demand accountability for managing our affairs. Again they have only spoken to $500M worth of the debt so we need more info on the bigger picture here too – John Aīarbadians in this forum and elsewhere have expressed deep concern about how successive governments have allowed the idyllic Paradise Beach location to rot. The debt restructuring starting is also positive for us. It’s been a while now and it is important that the developments in the hotel sector are shared with all. Sam Lord’s story needs to be shared with us. See relevant BU blog on CLEARWATER BAY MATTER – Matters surrounding the sale and ownership of this property are complicated and is currently the subject of litigation which is ongoing. However, there is no evidence of consideration being paid. In respect of the sale of the property, a review of the records at the Land Registry Department indicates that the property has been conveyed to a private company. ![]() Action was then taken by the Government company to recover the monies expended through a sale of the property. I also stated that, in any event, the entire $120 million should not be written off since the lands on which the project was being built were valuable instead the value in the accounts should be written down rather than to be completely written off.īased on information made available to my Office, Clearwater Bay held a mortgage over the real property and after the loan was called, Government was required to honor its guarantee and a payment of $124.3 million was paid to the bank. I had previously indicated that enough information was not provided to my Office as to the nature of the arrangement between Clearwater Bay Limited and the developers. The sum of $120 million had appeared in the books of the Government as a receivable for a number of years but was completely written off in 2018. This guarantee was in relation to the construction of the proposed Four Seasons managed hotels and villas. In my 20 Reports, I indicated that there were some concerns surrounding the accounting treatment of a loan guarantee made by the Government of Barbados through its’ company, Clearwater Bay Limited in the sum of $120 million. We fast forward to the recent 2021 Auditor General report with the following note on Clearwater Bay Ltd can be found. An interesting side note – Avinash Persaud also played a role and would have assisted in him being able to drive the luxury sports car he zips. The project has straddled both administrations starting with the late David Thompson and now rest uneasily with the incumbent Mottley who was a legal advisor to the failed project while in opposition. ![]() ![]() It started as a private project in 2006 under the name Cinnamon 88 Ltd and through the years morphed to Clearwater Bay Ltd a company registered to do business in 2010. ![]()
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