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Reposted: From Private to Public – Cinnamon 88 to CLEARWATER BAY, concern for taxpayers

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. The project straddled both administrations starting with the late David Thompson and now rest uneasily with incumbent Mottley who was a legal advisor to…

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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. The project straddled both administrations starting with the late David Thompson and now rest uneasily with incumbent Mottley who was a legal advisor to the failed project while in opposition. 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 around Barbados roads.

We fast forward to the recent 2021 Auditor General report where the following comment on Clearwater Bay Ltd was recorded.

In my 2018 and 2020 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. This guarantee was in relation to the construction of the proposed Four Seasons managed hotels and villas. 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. 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. 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.

Based 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. Action was then taken by the Government company to recover the monies expended through a sale of the property.

Audit Update

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. However, there is no evidence of consideration being paid. Matters surrounding the sale and ownership of this property are complicated and is currently the subject of litigation which is ongoing.

2021 Auditor General Report

See relevant BU blog on CLEARWATER BAY MATTER –

Paradise (Clearwater Bay Ltd) Sold to Pharliciple Inc

119 responses to “Reposted: From Private to Public – Cinnamon 88 to CLEARWATER BAY, concern for taxpayers”

  1. Yankee Bajan Avatar
    Yankee Bajan

    A little birdie told me she was at a diplomatic cocktail reception function last December in Washington, Four Seasons issue came after the drinks began to flow. Three names were mentioned Avinash as the bag man, Mia as lawyer and Chris Sinckler. The long and short of it is that Mia character is questionable and the vaccine scandal is also a black mark that diplomats are taking about. My source is seldom wrong who tells me the US and UK will not support Mia for Secretary General job. Time is of essence for the US and many laughed at Donville.

  2. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Your source is WRONG.

    Trump will probably PROPOSE her as the Sec Gen.
    You obviously don’t grasp the EXTENT to which this world has gone south….

  3. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    Interesting ……….
    Former central bank governor advocates full adoption of US dollar
    By Emmanuel Joseph ( Friday March 8th 2024 )
    Former Central Bank of Barbados Governor Dr Delisle Worrell has made a case for scrapping the Barbados dollar in favour of the United States dollar – known as dollarisation – to eliminate the ever-present risk of devaluation.
    Six of 11 countries worldwide to have adopted the US dollar as their official currency are in the Americas: British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bonaire, Panama, Ecuador and El Salvador.
    Dr Worrell, a former International Monetary Fund technical advisor, oversaw the central bank from 2009 to 2017 and was deputy governor at the height of the 1991 economic crisis. His monetary strategy for the Erskine Sandiford administration has been credited with preventing the devaluation of the Barbados dollar. He advocates dollarising the Barbados economy in his latest monthly economic commentary.
    Dr Worrell said: “In small open economies, the benefit of having a local currency appears to be outweighed by the devaluation risks. A majority of small economies, in the Caribbean, Central America and elsewhere have failed in their attempts to support the international purchasing power of their currencies.
    “Even those that have succeeded in avoiding large devaluations are subject to exchange rate crises of some severity from time to time. The risk of devaluation never goes away.
    What is more, the country pays a high price in holdings of foreign reserves to provide some insurance against that risk.
    Arguably, this money would be better employed in financinginfrastructure, health, education or other public sector priorities.”
    The economist added: “The benefit of a domestic currency [and] the ability to provide limited and temporary financing of public sector expenditure, appears trivial by comparison with the ever-present risk of devaluation.”
    The former executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF) also pointed out that limited shortterm credit is available to governments with sound credit, even in countries with no currency of their own like El Salvador and Panama.
    According to him, such accommodation may be obtained from commercial banks and the central bank at market rates.
    Dr Worrell advised that this is not new money, and it does not increase the total national spending power.
    “Furthermore, it is in international currency and may therefore be used to purchase whatever is needed, both domestic goods or imports.
    “The belief that the issue of a domestic currency is a beneficial exercise of national sovereignty is an illusion. Instead, small economies may rid themselves of the fear of loss of value of their wealth and incomes, and economise on the balances held in accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York by using the international money as their domestic currency,” the former central bank governor said.
    He noted that for the countries of Central America and the Caribbean and for many other countries around the world, the international currency happens to be the US dollar.
    Explaining how Barbados and other regional states can shift their currencies, Dr Worrell said: “All that is needed is for the country’s central bank to use US dollar balances held in reserve at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to retire all the local currency notes and coins that are outstanding at the current market exchange rate for the local currency.”
    Most central banks hold foreign reserves well in excess of what would be required for that exchange, he added.
    “The populations of almost all the countries of Central America and the Caribbean live with an abiding risk of devaluation of the international value of their incomes, their homes, their bank balances and all their real and financial property,” Dr Worrell said.
    The ex-central bank head reasoned that because El Salvador and Panama don’t have a domestic currency, their populations and anyone else whose income and property are denominated in US dollars, live free of any apprehension of devaluation.
    He contended that for better or worse, the US dollar is the world’s common standard of value, in much the same way as the Greenwich Mean is the world’s common standard reference for the time of the day.
    Dr Worrell added: “The prices of oil, food or other internationally traded goods may rise, reducing the spending power of their incomes, but the effects will not be aggravated, as might be the case elsewhere in the region, by devaluation of a local currency.
    “In the absence of global effects to which all nations are subject, there is no risk to their net worth or the purchasing power of their incomes, specific to their countries.” emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

  4. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    The witch hunt against our patriotic government must finally stop. We should be talking about the great successes since 2018 instead of some historic event in a long-gone government whose prime minister is no longer with us.

    Tron

  5. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Bajans love to chat and prophesize the future a lot with touches of doom and gloom.
    I think that Barbados will have 10 years bad luck followed by 15 years more bad luck.

    The New Moon In Pisces Will Jump-Start The Future
    — The Pisces new moon is a time of dreaminess, imagination, fluidity, mystery and beauty. This moon symbolises a mystical and spiritual journey …

    On March 10, 2024, the New Moon in Pisces occurs at 4:59 AM EST. This New Moon forms an applying conjunction to Neptune—which basically means that it’s on its way to share space with Neptune. When planets form a conjunction, that basically means they become like besties, and like besties, they rub off on each other.

  6. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @WS
    This is not the first or second time DrW has suggested dollarization.
    Unlikely, nuff jobs would be ‘no longer required’.

  7. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @Northern Observer
    You’re correct. Perhaps , with the coming of more comprehensive freedom of movement, again taking centre stage, and a call for a common currency , a number of academics , have been hinting at considering the USD , I don’t agree because I think we can have our own.
    common currency.

  8. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @WS
    As a staunch regionalist I appreciate your desires. Yet, a common currency doesn’t remove several of DrW’s reasons for dollarization.

  9. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Tron
    Witch hunt? How Trumpian of you. We are celebrating success. This administration managed to seek to write off $124M, while seemingly forgetting the land asset the GoB was supposed to own. This type of magic is of Copperfield status, enjoying a multi year run in Vegas. All without filing a single annual report for the entity incurring the massive expense. Making $124M disappear, mindful the monies were guaranteed to RESTART Four Seasons, makes the accomplishment that much greater.

  10. dreamstarworld Avatar
    dreamstarworld

    92 YEAR YOUNG G. EDWARD GRIFFIN – AUTHOUR OF “THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL lSLAND” ON THE STATE OF THE GLOBAL BANKING CARTEL IN BED WITH YOUR POLIETICIANS TO BRING THE MASSES INTO A SYNTHESIZED OUTCOME!!!

  11. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    “This is not the first or second time DrW has suggested dollarization.”

    Spiritually and romantically Barbadians view Africa as it’s Motherland and Roots.
    But culturally Barbados westernized linked to captalist nations of UK and USA.
    USA would like to pull Barbados and Caribbean more into it’s influence, if only to prevent ties with African Union or would use Barbados and Caribbean as a stepping stone to get a foothold into the Continent. Barbados and Caribbean could become another Hawaii. Which begs the question, is Barbados and Caribbean still part of Babylon?

  12. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    U.S. Dollar Death Spiral ‘Crisis’ Fears Grow After Bank Of America Issues Shocking ‘$1 Trillion Every 100 Days’ Warning Amid Huge Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP And Crypto Price Boom

    JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has predicted spiraling U.S. debt could spark a global “rebellion” while Bank of America’s CEO Brian Monyihan described the nation debt pile as the “most predictable crisis we’ve ever had.”

    In February, legendary investor Jim Rogers warned the massive $34 trillion U.S. debt pile means a looming recession will be “the worst in [his] lifetime” after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell primed the crypto market for a $3.3 trillion price boom.

    Last year, Jefferies’ analysts predicted the U.S. Federal Reserve will be forced to restart its money printer in 2024 due to a steep economic down turn, potentially collapsing the U.S. dollar and fueling a bitcoin price boom to rival gold.

    Link:
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/03/04/us-dollar-collapse-bank-of-america-issues-shocking-1-trillion-every-100-days-warning-amid-huge-bitcoin-ethereum-xrp-and-crypto-price-boom-to-rival-gold/?sh=2b4f95ed8da0

  13. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David

    Why not also post government’s responses, even if you don’t agree? Sing do, sing. Ralph who you described not too long ago as porakey is now PM gold. Will Greenland be the next post? Reminds me of your pre-2008 efforts. We all know what happened.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Why don’t you post the link. Recall listening to Ryan Straughn but it was all gobbledygook to a lowly blogmaster. We are looking at the big picture Enuff, Ralph Thorne is a pawn on the board.

  15. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Dearly Bee-Loved
    Assassination of a Queen Bee
    You see, Enuff isn’t just a beekeeper, he used to be the Beekeeper, a top-secret extralegal government agent whose job is to save the colony from anything it deems a threat — and I do mean anything.
    Enuff’s just a civilian now, but it’s hard to completely divest oneself of a moral code that used to keep an entire country in check, and so he can’t help but trace the phishing attack back to its source.
    “The Beekeeper” does its best to over complicate things in the hopes of churning its nonsense into a coherent mythology.

    Aren’t the Beekeepers supposed to be subtle and righteous?
    The question isn’t “will anyone stop him?” so much as it’s “when will he stop?”

    Be that as it may, there is plenty of sequel potential for a movie about an unstoppable killing machine who’s willing to threaten the world order in order to keep Western civilization from going further off the rails. “The Beekeeper” brings a vaguely radical energy to that idea — an energy that, if nurtured, could make this into a politically chaotic series that distances itself from its better-crafted peers on the strength of its go-for-broke irreverence.

  16. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @enuff
    There is a SINGULAR response which is acceptable. Audited reports.
    Show all and sundry who received the guaranteed loans, how much, and the decision process to sell the collateral lands.

    Straughn has become just like the “S” politicians from the former administration who promised reports but never delivered.

    The QEH has now gone through one full circle of management blunders and STILL, not a single RH annual report? Isn’t it beyond time, that the current GoB begin producing not only as promised, but as REQUIRED by LAW. The same Law that Kinch breaks, he’s only copying the trend set by the politicians.

  17. Gordon Avatar
    Gordon

    https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/tui-passengers-barbados-airport-accident-hotels-stranded-b2509315.html

  18. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David
    Why should I? Sing do, sing!!!

    Northern
    You can post the government’s response to date too.

  19. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    What response?
    That they do not understand the difference between the loans and then default, which subsequently triggered the collateral assets?
    So now a whole long story about efforts re the latter, when the Annual Reports are easy peazy for CBL.
    Even if CBL lost every record, ANSA has all those pertinent to who received monies and then defaulted. The sale of collateral assets while important, is a separate issue?
    Confuse and avoid. Delay for long enuff and soon all players will be dead or suffering from dementia. Meanwhile the taxpayers inexplicably spent $124M and have nothing to show for it.

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