Submitted by Anthony Davis
Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy is hitting back at critics of the decision to build the multi-million dollar Hyatt hotel on Bay Street, the city. “In his contribution earlier this evening to the debate on the 2016 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals, Sealy defended the international hotel chain, which he said would enhance the island’s tourism product while generating employment. “I know the Member for the City (Jeffrey Bostic) doesn’t agree with that (opposition to the hotel); he is the biggest supporter of Hyatt and I am the second biggest supporter. I am all for jobs, I am all for tourism coming to the people of St. Michael – page 6 of Barbados TODAY dated 17 August, 2016
Dear Mr. Minister of Tourism, it is said that the last shall be the first, and the first shall be last. So, let me start with the last paragraph of your noise first.
I find it a puerile reason for wanting a hotel in St. Michael, just because there are hotels in the two parishes which you mentioned. It reminds me of a child who asks for something just because his parents have given his sister/brother something. Also, Mr. Minister, for your information, there are already three hotels in St. Michael, and all within walking distance of each other. They are: the Island Inn, the Radisson and the Hilton – which is a Government entity – and so you should at least know about that one. The Hilton is on Needham’s Point and I don’t think that that has moved. The Island Inn and Radisson are in Aquatic Gap.
Re your ” he (Jeffrey Bostic) is the biggest supporter of Hyatt, and I am the second biggest supporter” statement.
Mr. Bostic himself has declared that he is for Hyatt, but there’s a fundamental difference of your attitudes towards that project. You want it at all costs, whether it would be detrimental to the environment or the social fabric of this island, whereas Mr. Bostic is of the opinion that progress should not come at any and every cost. He stated that in his position on planting of that monstrosity on Browne’s Beach., he wants various things looked into first – including an environmental impact assessment, and a social impact assessment.
As far as I know, it is no longer good practice to build hotels on the beach, but on the land opposite the beach, which is being practised in the USA, and other tourism-oriented destinations. That is why I would like to know why Hyatt is coming here to plant a hotel on one of our favourite beaches, and one to which those tourists who return year after year go.
How do you start building if you have no planning permission?
How can such a 15-storey twin-tower colossus blend in with the Bethel Methodist Church, and the St. Paul’s Anglican and Catholic churches?
Would Hyatt be allowed to build a hotel on any beach in the USA now?
Why are we allowing a hotel conglomerate to build here, if all of the top personnel will be foreign?
That smacks of bigotry.
How can you allow that to happen, Mr. Minister?
Seeing that Barbados is a water-scarce island, and so many people are being already deprived of that commodity – although paying high water rates – from where will all of the water come?
What about the waste?
Will it have it’s own water source, and waste disposal?
It is a sad state of affairs when any government can railroad such plans for the benefit of a foreign entity.
UNESCO is very strict when it comes to the stipulations which it gives to those countries which have World Heritage sites. I fear that if the stipulations for maintaining Bridgetown and its Garrison as a World Heritage site are breached then it will revoke the World Heritage site designation of the above, and we will be left without an important tourist attraction!
Also, Barbados is one of the most expensive tourism destinations, and it will now be more expensive since the tax collector has added a new levy to his taxes which in effect brings the VAT to 20% when, as he hiked it to seventeen and a half per cent, he promised to return it to 15% within a year.
However, promises mean nothing to this Government.
WE, the populace of Barbados, DO NOT WANT THIS HOTEL, NOR ANY OTHER, ON BROWNE’S BEACH!
The beach belongs to the populace of this country – not to any government!
113 responses to “Minister Sealy, No 15-Storey Hyatt Hotel On Dah Beach”
Well WELL! what do i know the IMF praise the Freundel Stuart administration HEE HEE to all doomers and gloomers you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Not since the Erskine Sandiford administration have we had to witness such an unpopular government. The criticism has risen to a point it is a distraction.
Why are sensible people wary of David and his demands for an EIA process?
Because, even if an assessment has not been done, there is no reason to believe it would be worth the cost?
Has anyone seen the typical EIA report in a Third World country like Barbados? It usually says nothing that isn’t already obvious to anyone with a background in engineering, economics, marine biology or environmental studies. In Barbados, baseline data is usually hard to come by, and the consultants who would probably be hired to write the report will almost certainly be second rate.
Can we get a panel of local experts to go on a TV program and tell everyone in 60 minutes what David wants the government to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to put down on paper?
@chad99999
Yours is a general position. What did the early EIAs give us on the Cahill project. Did it not inform the public about the water issue for example? EIAs can be useful if all stakeholders play their part.
Also that Brownes beach is home to all barbadians and the few voices that are expressing ownership are speaking on behalf of a few amidst the the silent voices of many and the growing misinformation that flows across the pages of BU
The St. Pauls anglician church is already out of view and broders left to bayland and beckles road and right to Dunlowlane with walls situated on both sides and nowhere in site to where the proposed Hyatt would be built
This and other snipets parading to be newsworthy is disingenuous and misleading
@ ac
Bullsh!t. Go read the the IMF Article IV report again. They pointed out that the rise in tourism revenue which the government had nothing to do with has given the administration a little breathing room but noted that “the fiscal situation remains challenging despite ongoing government adjustment efforts.” Revenue measures “fell short of target.” Progress on the expenditure side “slower than anticipated.”
“They stressed that stronger efforts are also needed to reform state owned enterprises” and they “also called for swift action to eliminate government arrears.”
Most importantly perhaps they “emphasized that continued financing of the fiscal deficit by the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) is inconsistent with maintenance of the exchange rate anchor.” In simple terms, government policy will cause devaluation if it continues.
The only ways you can characterize that as praise is if you are lying, don’t comprehend the words the IMF wrote, or both.
If the people do not want the hotel at that location, would it not be practical to find another location for Hyatt, that would not threaten the island’s standing…as the writer says, there is Hilton, there is Raddison and Island Inn, near that same stretch of beach….that makes it over croweded with hotels, for it’s size.
And that insult about having whites manage the hotel, why does the government keep ignoring all the scams pulled by foreign management on guests or in collusion with guests at hotels like Sandy Lane where the local workers ALWAYS get fired or blamed for crimes committed by these culprits…do the government ministers have no self-worth.
Trust the ACs to misunderstand what the IMF really said and prance around misleading and lying to the bloggers..
Ammmmm Peter ammmmmmm
Dere goeth thine chance to become an advisor to the current DLP administration in Innovation and Invention Initiatives when your assignment in Jamaica is over.
De ting is dat when a feller like you start to talk and you review what you are saying and your credentials, one comes up with the determination that you is de real McCoy.
Leh me share a few paragraph heah wid dese DLP infidels
“Treasure beach is a small but interesting and dynamic community with a great sense of its own identity seeking to develop the potential of the area as well as cultivating and marketing of a unique brand of tourism.
To this end, Compete Caribbean provided technical assistance to the Treasure Beach cluster with a view to generating wealth and sustained prosperity through increasing the competitiveness of businesses in the area and the creation of greater access to new markets.
Roger Wheelock, Lead Advisor with Canadian Executive Services Organisation (CESO), the firm volunteering to Treasure Beach in a mentorship and advisory capacity, has provided a unique perspective on the Treasure Beach project and its progress to date.”
Dat is de same entity dat you self does wuk for? yes? and if COMPETE CARIBBEAN endorse dat project and, by extension, you agency, you is a heavy roller!!!
Well since de DLP ent gine like you fuh you calling out dem lapdog Legion aka AC, all i gine tell you is wait till after de elections and talk to Mugabe.
One ting bout she dat a feller gotta say is dat, even doah you cyan shut you eyes and back she wid you ideas, she still aggressive bout mekking sure dat she rule ovah a bountiful crop SO SHE WILL ENTERTAIN GOOD IDEAS
Watch carefully how you gine get youself cuss real quick by Legion.
The term “constructive criticism” or “dissent” is a thing that is lost on them that brings them to suggest that you are to be hung for sedition.
Like chadd says the cost of these EIA are expensive but as usual if not brought above ground the yardfowls would present their own report of sinister plot
As far as i know the govt never gave a clear reporting as to why Cahill was abandoned and for that reason the yardfowls have been able to give their own analysis for the govt abandoning the project similar to what David stated as coming from an EIA report
The Hyatt project is another ball game having different issues and has not been classified as a high risk project assiciated with enviromental issues
As a matter of fact Hyatt recently launched initiatives to tackled problems derived from the enviroment going forward as far as 2020
Again kudos to the Stuart administration for putting measures in place which helped to stablize the economy.Also i was wondering why Peter Wickham was up front and centre recently in the media downgrading govt efforts. Now i get the picture wuhloss
It does not matter that that they are expensive, the law requires that an EIA be done.
#yardfowl
#DEMSnowDEMSagain
Surprised that Sealy has not allowed his training as an engineer to kick in. A listen to him in parliament and one couldn’t guess that he is a trained engineer.
@Peter ..such news would hit you like a breadfruit in the head aimlessly dropping from a tree. Try this on for size the IMF is neither B or D and their anslysis is not dependant on a political arm or prompting. It gives advised where necessary and praises
those efforts that would have been beneficial to the country progress as a whole.so relaxed boy this is only the beginning .Notice that in an almost twenty four hour period not a word of the IMF was mentioned on BU wonder why ?reminds me of what my gran ma once told me becareful of badminded people living on badminded street hope you are not one of those people she was speaking about
David August 25, 2016 at 8:15 PM
It surprises me none, that Sealy is a trained engineer. So is John Boyce,and what a mess he has made as Minister of Transport and Works. Built a $4 Million overpass by CBC that is scarcely ever used. And as Minister of Health, he still has to answer for a lot of non functioning equipment at the QEH.
@ ac It’s still a lie (or ignorance) to characterize their report as praise: I will assume the charitable alternative.
Some people’s heads are so hard, ya need a hammer and nails to pound the information in and even then, they still resisting the processing, until they aer exposed and made embarrassed.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/08/25/burglary-at-parliament/
What is this, thief from thief..lol
@Peter
To debate with a yardfowl is to slam your head into a wall. It is obvious the economy has seen a bounce because of an increase in tourist arrivals and low oil price. Note this is an external event which all Caribbean islands have benefited and is not as a result of any significant interventions by this government. Although BU conceded the people at the BTMI seems to be an improvement on the last lot.
BU marked up the IMF report for the benefit of the hardhead posse.
1 Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.
2 At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here:http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm
IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: RAPHAEL ANSPACH
PHONE: +1 202 623-7100EMAIL: MEDIA@IMF.ORG
The beach belongs to the populace of this country – not to any government!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Do you really think so? Under Dipper Barrow , Yes.
Look at what we have allowed COW to do with Heywoods Beach, when he built the marina down there,and the PM at the time stated that he had no apologies to make, presumably to the people of Barbados,for the concessions given to COW.
And not to be outdone,his cronies went and done a similar thing next door at Six Men’s.
Anybody who says that the Island Inn, Radisson and Hilton are on the “same stretch” of beach has to be joking. Anybody who believes that the Island Inn is of the same level as the Hilton and Radisson cannot be serious.
David instead of downgrading your efforts i would upgrade you to yardfowl of the century because of your past and ongoing efforts
Now the IMF report has a variance of differing analysis composed of several factors and the effects on the barbados economy and govts efforts to put measures in place some of which would have worked favorable and others which needs more adjusting for the economy to achieve more easement
However true to form the blp yardfowls use their chisel to chip away at any mentioned progress but lean over ever so slightly to find their nugget of doom and gloom as the highlighter or the lynch pin to assess what they perceived as a damaging report
#DEMSnowDEMSagain
…….”as the writer says, there is Hilton, there is Raddison and Island Inn, near that same stretch of beach….that makes it over croweded with hotels, for it’s size.”
William..read it again…it says NEAR, the same stretch of beach.,.that beach is not 20 miles long, my grandson walked the whole thing, from Hilton to boatyard in 5 minutes, he got long legs.
@ AC
Just in Case you forgot who the signees to the CAHILL FIASCO WERE.
Here is the TV Documentary with the Culprits rather the signees.
THis is going to make and excellent cartoon and short “Laff It Off” skit that is going to make all uh wunna look like first class clowns
The Storyboard for that video/skit
Scene I
Opening Scene Dennis Lowdown “Clare I nevah had a white meat yet”
Response from Who is You?: “My Psychic Tell me dat once I go Black I’ll Never Go Back”
Who Is You? says: “But hold on there pigrim, why you tekking me from de back?”
Scene II
LowTown “Leh me introduce you to my friends” Dis is Denis from Moontown”
MeClar Who You “He from LowTown too?”
“Dis be Quisling” “Dat is a real name?”
“Yes but we does call he, Stab You in you back when you ent lookin, for short”
Scene III
“And did be Buffalo Bill or Stinkliar or “Bolt”
“Wunna does call he bolt cause he fast??”
“No We does call he “Bolt” cause he so effing big, it does tek a Bolt uh Cloth to covah he scvunt”
http://i.imgur.com/Orwd5Zv.png
The govenment better get the….
“DIRECTORS EMPHASIZED THAT THE CONTINUED FINANCING OF THE FISCAL DEFICIT BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF BARBADOS (CBB) IS INCONSISTENT WITH MAINTENANCE OF THE EXCHANGE RATE ANCHOR. THEY ENCOURAGED THE CBB TO ALLOW DOMESTIC INTEREST RATES TO RISE IN LINE WITH INCREASES IN U.S. INTEREST RATES AND ENSURE ADEQUATE INTERNATIONAL RESERVE BUFFERS.”
…right or the IMF will be singing a different tune…in 6 months, long before the elections.
Lol…..Piece, love the “stoopid cartoon”.
Thanks for the full report.The headlines in the printed press does not really reflect the contents of the report. Where is the praise? Each good statement is followed up or prefaced with a caveat.
This Hyatt fiasco is heading for a showdown, a la Cahill……………maybe even bigger. Who in there right mind would built that 15 storey behemoth on that penny stamp piece of land?
William Skinner August 25, 2016 at 8:54 PM #
{Anybody who says that the Island Inn, Radisson and Hilton are on the “same stretch” of beach has to be joking. Anybody who believes that the Island Inn is of the same level as the Hilton and Radisson cannot be serious.}
You cant use serious to refer to sheeple on BU who huff and puff to kill a global brand hotel with potential to generate hundreds of jobs for the urban poor, revitalize Bridgetown and exploit for the national good a new beach which rose from the sea by the old fish market and stretches to the Pier- head.
Nobody holds a brief for Maloney other than to dismiss the nitpicking prattle of sheeple and nomadic Commisiong to harass yet another foreign investor from our shores. The Baje Guardians a service club whose aim is to instill patriotism in communities held a survey on Hyatt at a watering hole in Parish Land. Not one person of twenty something objected to Hyatt. The majority reacted with the question “”Isn’t everbody saying Bridgetown is dead Hyatt is a step towards bringing the city back to life. “”
The sinister politically hatched plot to rob the urban poor of jobs to feed their families at the same time kick start the revitalization of Bridgetown is doomed to failure. The moral of this story is don’t let anyone think for you.
Passing thru
Should the PM grant permission to the Maloney cabal without the need for a EIA?
BURGLARY AT PARLIAMENT
Police are investigating a burglary at the west wing of the Parliament building.
A number of artefacts including Freundel Stuart and Chris Sinckler were discovered stolen at about 7:40 this morning.
A reward is not being offered for their return.
Last sentence change > The moral of this story don’t let yardfowls think for you.
@ ac re your 7:27 pm post. We all know that there is a big difference in the reporting of the news by Fox News and CNN. Perhaps there is a Fox News in Barbados because the only positive words I saw were “welcomed” and “encouraged.” After reading the article I must conclude that there was nothing praise worthy in it so wipe that smile off your face.
Is there any memo of understanding on Hyatt, like Cahill? And if: Who received the money for the legal drafting? The same lawyer as in the Cahill case?
By the way, in the diplomatic language of IMF and other int. inst. trying equates failing.
@passing thru aka waiting aka Fan etc
What about the governance issue and the fact that ministers of government say there is approval and an EIA completed yet it has been reported by the traditional media that there is doubt about town planning approvals? Did you read the report in the traditional media about the threat to the UNESCO World Heritage designation? So the issue is not about BU JA.
MB
Once you take time to reread the contributions on this site you will realise that the answers are known and documented here for over a decade but no one is willing to implement them.
Anthony Davis
An excellent article and on point as usual and all I would add that it is time to get rid of this type of failed tourism model(check Puerto Rico) and adopt the more inclusive one that involves greater local participation.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/08/26/imf-again-sounds-the-alarm-over-large-fiscal-deficit/
Heather…this is the reality, as told by IMF, ACs have completely different fantadies that bear no relationship to reality.
Since the ACs were so worried, someone sent me a text that Naked Departure was online again, I just checked, it is…so the ACs can resume reading all about themselves.
If Minister Mr. Donville Inniss has deliberately misled Parliament he should bear the full brunt of Parliamentary censure. Quite frankly if indeed his contribution to the debate could be found to be nothing short of lying to Parliament, a vote of no confidence is not far fetched. No Cabinet member should escape scrutiny for such a deliberate breach. So the question is: Was Minister Donville Inniss deliberately misleading Parliament when he stated that certain criteria were met in relation to the Hyatt project ?
@ William Skinner
…so who will bring this motion and vote in support?
Other MPs?…. who almost to a man can be shown to have been equally lying and deceitful in Parliament?
Skipper, our ass is grass.
We seem condemned to be led by trash.
There is a brazen criminal element that is running rampant through barbados the vicious and violent murder of the farmer in St. Lucy in the early evening hours by entry of. window should be one of a lesson that barbadians must invest some of their finances in secuity.
WW&C no one would have to send you a text .it is obvious you are a card carrying member of that sleezy trashy forum Naked Deparature and for your Information i have no interest in mud racking i leave that to sewer rats like you and Veronica. Birds of feathers would always flock together
David
Looking at the aerial photograph it appears that the building on land side, connect by a bridge over the road, is probably back of house space for the hotel and probably meeting and conference rooms and parking for the Hyatt hotel.
THE QUESTION I HAVE IS, SEEING AT THE THOSE LANDS ARE CURRENTLY HOUSING GOVERNMENT ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT (GEED) HOW DID OR IS MR. MALONEY GOING TO COME TO OWN THIS LAND?
“Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, an outstanding example of British colonial architecture consisting of a well-preserved old town built in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which testifies to the spread of Great Britain’s Atlantic colonial empire.”
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1376
“The Chief Town Planner has been identified as the Site Manager for day-to-day management concerns in the framework of the urban development plan and planning permission procedures. He also chairs the Barbados World Heritage Committee which meets on a two-monthly basis. Thematic subcommittees meeting at shorter intervals are dedicated to specific areas of management, including education and capacity building, conservation of architectural heritage, interpretation and tourism management.”
Lol….let that bother you, I leave yall to Naked Departure, am sure ya perusing it right now to see if ya name, photos or those of ya idiot masters are on it.
Good question Recall….there are those acting like that stretch of beach is long, walk 50 steps from Hilton, which by the way is nice enough but not top in it’s class, got 2 nice pools, it’s best features. ..and ya fall into the yards of both Island Inn and Radisson, neither of them are 5 star, walk anither 200 steps and ya land on Browne’s beach, walk another 150 yards, ya in the heart of Bridgetown, it’s like walking from the bottom of university hill to the end of Spring Garden, it is not a long beach, yet some would have you believe that there is so much space to build a monstrosity….and there is so much beach separating the 3 hotels from each other.
If in fact a recommendation has been sent to the PM suggesting an approval of 15 storeys be granted then I want to know who signed the recommendation, …………………Mark Cummins could/would not be so foolish.
It looks like Dumbville was planning to force the permission into existence and bully the chief town planner into ignoring the UNESCO designation….no wonder Maloney was desperate to have Cummins removed….Maloney should sell the squatters in parliament. …into slavery.
Those were all nasty moves by Inniss with Fruendel hiding in the background to see how it plays out.
I am curious to know about the parking requirements for a 15 storey building. It must need somewhere between 350 and 500 car parking spaces.
ACs…ah go make yall grunt, ya too deceitful.