Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

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

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

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 –

How government ‘stole’ millions from gullible taxpayers – Paradise (Clearwater Bay Ltd) Sold to Pharliciple Inc

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

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

  1. John Avatar
    John

    NorthernObserverAugust 1, 2022 9:27 AM

    @John
    In that case, begin with Paradise Beach Limited inc 1970.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Erroll Walton Barrow no doubt, like Golden Mile Resorts at Heywoods that got an honourable mention in the Duffus Commission.

    We are seeing the results of the efforts of corrupt politicians after independence unfolding before our eyes.

  2. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @David
    Thx. I just follow the names. Don’t know 99% of the people.
    When the ICIJ leaks were first published I studied them. Many findings, but one less interesting, is the multiple names people appear under.
    One CBL director, as as example, is listed as Julia. I associate the JU but with a different ending? The 88 director Kola, has more versions of his name than I can recite from memory. The ICIJ only link them if they are EXACT 😆

  3. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @John
    You too 💕 a 🐇 🕳️!!

  4. John Avatar
    John

    Kola is an interesting character!!!!

  5. John Avatar
    John

    Been around alot, all with companies involved in the trade.

  6. John Avatar
    John

    Anyone remember the Kola Syrup episode?

  7. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @John 10.23am
    Every coin has two sides?
    I was told back in the mid 80’s, albeit from the Int’l Dev side vs the Dept of Finance, that CIDA, the Cdn Int’l Dev Agency was being scaled back.
    While it officially had a mandate of ‘poverty reduction’, it also provided work for Canadians abroad. That was until benefitting countries, wanted THEIR contractors, engineers, architects etc.
    One high profile project, ran out of money when only half finished !!. They couldn’t control the corruption, once the host country controlled too much. And it reflected poorly on Canada because CIDA was a ” partner”.
    I was told these tax treaties were to offset CIDA, in other words, indirect funding.
    While the GoC didn’t officially do away with CIDA until years later, that was when the more modern approach, of Cdn “interest groups” getting their fingers in the CIDA till became an issue.
    I “think” the last CIDA project in Bdos was Spring Garden.

  8. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Generational thieves have no qualms and will always find a way to tief and push corruption…it’s in their wretched DNA…

  9. John Avatar
    John

    Long before the mid 80’s, EWB and the DLP were engaged in corruption!!

    Culminated with the Duffus Commission of 1976.

    HARP for instance, Carib West, Golden Mile Resorts, etc etc.

    What we have today is the legacy of corruption he and others in the DLP left Barbados and brought to flower under succeeding generations of the families associates of the originators of these two parties.

    The BLP is the progenitor of the DLP so the various projects involving persons from both parties is normal and today it will not be surprising to find second and third generations of those early families associated with corruption.

    The 1980 Tax Treaty with Canada followed a couple of years later by the new Companies act which allowed the concealment of beneficial ownership of Companies, ushered in an era of corruption never seen before in Barbados.

    CIDA was too accountable, “Tom” and the politicians and their overseas connections of the day needed a more unaccountable system of rules and laws to move monies around and get their cuts.

    So you will find Canadians and others of different nationalities incorporating companies under the then new Companies Act who set out to exploit the deficiencies of the new Companies Act.

    Did alot of research over the years in Corporate Affairs and on the internet once the scanned documents were for a short while made available for download.

    They have closed that down that internet avenue now!!

    Sooner or later Barbados will be black listed again.

  10. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Northern, your 12:22 PM above has been a ‘fable’ of country to country investment since I imagine God said “let my people go” … to use a Biblical reference.

    In sum, it’s impractical and inconceivable that graft will not feature in every income generating project. You VERY CLEARLY allude to this when you say “That was until benefitting countries, wanted THEIR contractors, engineers, architects etc. [involved]”

    As we know well, first world nations pillefered and laid waste to third world nations first and then eons later with CIDA or USAID or the supposedly more benign (but odious in other ways) orgs like Peace Corps or Duke of Edinburgh ostensibly gave back to us … BUT under their terms. And as u noted definitely in a way that boosted their economies.

    That was ALWAYS a knock about ‘colonial aid’ … it came with the donor countries’ wisdom and WARTS … even down to any of the teachers or priests or project CEOs we HAD to employ!

    So it’s AMUSINGLY outrageous to see your band mate attempt to ORIGINATE corruption and graft under our nation’s first PM … this after generations of obnoxious colonial corruption; like when the plantations barons were GIVEN corrupt reparations to offset the lost of free labour which of course had made the donor nations very PROPEROUS. ..
    Yet he can opine with a straight face that _”What we have today is the legacy of corruption he and others in the DLP left Barbados and brought to flower under succeeding generations of the families associates of the originators of these two parties.”*

    What a freaking disgusting analysis of history … no wonder so many (excuse my bluntness) freaking white conservatives do NOT want to teach ANY critical analysis of history’s racial theories and issues.😡

    So yes Canada, US, England, the Netherlands, Spain and Columbus et al started the pervasive corruption and fah sure we in the colonies learned it well and are doing our level best to now be uber bad boy and girl corruption experts !

    We learned from the best, not so!

  11. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Johnny clot 1:30

    This is the problem with you White-minded bacra Johnnie’s.

    A few days ago you feigned making an argument that all of mankind is Afrikan.

    Now today your deeply laid racism comes out as you construct an argument that corruption in Barbados is a product of the post independence era.

    Are slavery, colonialism, capitalism not the highest forms of corruption. What about your White people in charge before independence, did they not teach this misleadership class everything they know.

    Further, is your culturally White BLP not perceived as the rightful inheritors of the colonial political legacy even as the DLP pretends a different orientation but is no different.

    Any Afrikan anywhere operating under the presumption of inclusion with the Devil shall remain in hell.

  12. John Avatar
    John

    When was Columbus ever in Barbados?

    Only a complete idiot would run around claiming Columbus exploited the Barbados economy expecting there to be another set of complete idiots who would accept this crap.

    CIDA was founded in 1968 and USAID in 1961!!!

    They came into existence as more and more countries were given their “independence” from Britain and lost their ability to be subsidized from the mother country.

    After WWII, Britain was broke and by the end of the 1940’s, the jewel in the crown, India, was gone.

    The intention of the USA and Canada was to provide AID to developing countries but once $$ is involved, corruption will arise.

    By 1968, the Barbados economy was booming as the World demand for sugar was still high after WWII.

    This is the only time in history that our economy really grew as attested to by its export output.

    Leading up tp the two world wars, sugar output was small and there was no real local economy to exploit.

    In the days of sail, Barbados’ only claim to fame was its location in the Atlantic Gyre and in the path of the Trade Winds.

    Our economy relied solely on Trade and being a reprovisioning station for ships.

    $$ was made elsewhere and some filtered back.

    Here is the sugar output, it’s an irrefutable fact!!!

    https://imgur.com/cXqE9uK

  13. John Avatar
    John

    JohnAugust 1, 2022 3:21 PM

    When was Columbus ever in Barbados?

    Only a complete idiot would run around claiming Columbus exploited the Barbados economy expecting there to be another set of complete idiots who would accept this crap.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Spoke too quick, there is always atleast one!!

  14. John Avatar
    John

    You see, prior to USAID and CIDA, there was no cash to steal so corruption would have been a non issue.

    Before that, the only place excess value was present to be stolen was in the hands of the person collecting duties from the ships passing through … and yes, it happened… Lascelles I am told, some relative of the Queen.

    A booming economy in the 1950’s and 60’s meant there was an excess value to steal and you can see by looking at the graph of sugar output what the result was.

    In a matter of years the collapse of the Barbados economy started, look at the graph.

    It has just got worser.

    The Canadian Treaty of 1980 ran billions of dollars through Barbados and attracted all kinds of undesirable behaviour.

    So the point is if you want to look for a period when corruption set in, look in the period when there was something of value to steal.

    This is an irrefutable fact!!!

    It is called pork barrel politics … common sense.

    Taxation can only produce something worth stealing if the economy is booming or if as is the case of the 1980 Canadian taxation agreement there is an injection of cash into the coffers of the Government!!

    If you look for corruption prior to the 50’s in Barbados you will be hard pressed to find anything significant except in the collections of duties by His Majesty’s Comptroller of Customs.

    There has to be something of value to steal for theft to occur!!

  15. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    @Pacha

    You’re the Chancellor’s leading man again. I guess JOHN 2’s were evicted..

  16. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    “A few days ago you feigned making an argument that all of mankind is Afrikan.”

    they only claim to be Afrikans when it suits their stupid purposes….but cave beasts are not Afrikan, there is too little of that bloodline in them left…many have none at all….don’t mind John talking shite…they are not Afrikans…..you must have a specific bloodline set up….bits and pieces here and there don’t count unless you can pull up at least 50% or more..

    either way….Afrikans will be happy to be rid of all of them…..to move on in their ancestral space…as the earth’s original people.

  17. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Pacha…ya done know the BU crowd know absolutely nothing about ancestral setups..

    ….according to Marcus Garvey…”that is our business”…..they don’t need to know anything…

  18. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    None of these two parties can claim to have no history of corruption.
    Peace.

  19. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Mr Fellow, your retort was an inane diatribe … you noted initially that you start at the beginning so get your head clear of the ridiculous fog.

    The point was about THE CORRUPT process of government aid/income flows … and the IRREFUTABLE facts of that process is that EVERY colonial power adopted a corrupt, insiders process of graft !

    That you could even express to this blog that if “you look for corruption prior to the 50’s in Barbados you will be hard pressed to find anything significant” is either the comment of an idiot or one pretending idiocy.

    I dun wid your absurd apparent wantonly racist revision of history … it is appallingly disgusting.

    But then again what should I expect from a white dude who regales us with his stupendous factoid that thousands of Black folks were so happy and blissfully accepting of their lot during slavery but became less so when emancipated.

    You like, all who spout that BS, are an intellectual fraud!

  20. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @dpd
    Band mate? lol. What band?
    If you wish to unnerstand the system, one need only examine Canada’s indigenous people.

  21. Detective Colombo Avatar
    Detective Colombo

    Was not Chris Sinckler not Minister of Finance? Then if Mr Sinckler, as Minister of Finance, he put money in the the leader of the then opposition pocket as lawyer for Clearwater. So while the NIS pensioners hold the bag, Chris gets a job in Washington. Will submit report to FBI HQ.

  22. Detective Colombo Avatar
    Detective Colombo

    So David Estwick, house at Ruby in the hands of a proxy named Arthur who is a lawyer. How much money, lost to corruption now in offshore accounts. Dodds Prison was major scandal nipped by Mr Marshall. Follow the offshore companies and who is their beneficial owners.

  23. John Avatar
    John

    dPd

    You don’t have to be an intellectual to reach a conclusion that if there is nothing to steal then nothing will get stolen!!

    To identify when there was anything to steal all you have to do is look at economic output.

    Previous to the boom post WWII, there was nothing much to steal.

    The real stealing in Barbados occurred post WWII.

    However, you have to be a complete idiot to assert differently.

  24. BAJE Avatar
    BAJE

    Crypto
    SEC charges 11 with creating, promoting $300 million crypto ‘Ponzi scheme’

    Xxxxxxxxxxx

    WHATEVER HAPPENED TO KIRK BROWN PONZI SCHEME ON THE 2X3 ISLAND.

    TOO WELL CONNECTED LIKE THE POLITICIANS TO BE CHARGED?

  25. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Good post Baje.
    This may be helpful to some… The section “Red Flags” is amausing.
    https://www.livingmoreworkingless.com/forsage-scam-review/

  26. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Two words and one is a typo
    Typo this !@#$!!%U

  27. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/auditor-general-2021.mp4

  28. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    so is this Caddle person, something in the government, backbencher or something i never pay attention….an accountant or actuarial scientist or someone with knowledge of how these things work that they can assume that there was no corruption or wrongdoing.

    so the Auditor General who has DECADES OF EXPERIENCE must be dreaming..

    ….i never take politicians seriously…they will ALWAYS repulse me..

  29. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Marsha Caddle is an economist. I don’t listen to her mouthings. You claimed to have a red bag the contents of which would be put to good use. The much touted red bag disappeared after the elections.

    He or she who lies before an election should reasonably be deemed to lie after an election.

    You cannot lie repeatedly and wipe the slate clean with “BELIEVE YOU ME!”

    IF THE PUBLIC DOE NOT BELIEVE THEM, THE PUBLIC HAS REASON NOT TO BELIEVE THEM.

    This fake outrage from Marsha is laughable!

  30. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Don’t pay for a ticket.
    It’s a toy train with all the bells and whistles.

  31. David Avatar
    David

    @Donna

    Politicians make promises to win favour, it is a characteristic of politicians especially in growing (immature) democracies. It shouldn’t be encouraged but the struggle to address must continue.

  32. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    David,

    Weak! Cannot get a pass! You cannot lie to the people and then expect their trust.

    Marsha Caddle needs to put up or stfu!

  33. David Avatar
    David

    @Donna

    ALL of them lie. You have to attack the political class to be credible. The political class has no issue closing ranks.

  34. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Politicians make promises to win favour,….@David, you should have ended there lol
    Btw….i note that MP Caddle’s new gig…The Bold Center….she has access to several seemingly beyond her ‘economic prowess’. Surely the extra income from this, +MP salary, places her at the top of the heap.
    Then again she knocked of Sealy….twice!!

  35. David Avatar
    David

    Peter Laurie should know right?

    The elephant in the room
    By Peter Laurie

    Elephant in the room – a major problem obviously present but ignored because everybody finds discussion about it uncomfortable.
    The elephant in our Bajan room is the size and inefficiency of our bloated public sector operating through a hodgepodge of different ministries/agencies entrenched in their silos. Result: low productivity, bad morale, and poor delivery of services.
    To be clear, it’s the system that’s dysfunctional, not the people who work in it.
    Civil servants get no reward for achieving anything; they cannot get fired for doing nothing; they get an automatic yearly salary increase regardless; and promotion is based largely on seniority.
    They function within an archaic management system that stifles efficiency, productivity and innovation, and lacks accountability. Moreover, blurred lines of authority between the political and bureaucratic directorates lead inevitably to abuses of power.
    We have been talking reform for decades. Some of the initiatives, especially digitalisation of services, have yielded positive results. But our focus on improving efficiency has led us to ignore the question of how many of our public sector organisations are fit for purpose today?
    No one wants to address this issue because it will probably entail reducing the number of people employed, maybe by as much as 25 per cent.
    But we can’t ignore the elephant for at least two reasons.
    One, the present expenditure on the public sector is fiscally unsustainable.
    Two, an efficient and productive public sector is essential for Barbados’ present and future prosperity. The public sector will make us, break us, or, at best, continue to “brake” us.
    We have no option other than to transform it into a major enabler of sustainable and equitable economic development and social justice.
    How did we get here? One, institutional inertia: organisations persist long after the need for them has ceased to exist or their activities are no longer appropriate to a drastically changed environment. Government agencies originated and grew willy-nilly at a time when there was almost no entrepreneurial class in Barbados, only a few unenterprising dominant companies.
    Two, an unholy collusion of patronage-bestowing politicians and empirebuilding senior bureaucrats (okay, I confess) over the decades has led to an excess of unproductive jobs and activities.
    So how do we go about changing the system?
    Piecemeal reform focusing on efficiency is helpful if it results in getting Town Planning permission or a driver’s licence more quickly. The problem is you might waste time making more efficient an entity that has no reason to exist anymore, for example, the Government Printery. We all want Government to be efficient but it’s equally important for it to be effective, that is, doing the right things.
    Another approach is wholesale transformation. This is bold and ambitious, but should work in a small society like Barbados. The advantage of this method is that it could be done over six years with few or no mandatory layoffs.
    We should start by asking what is the role of the state in present-day Barbados, a small knowledge economy dependent on a high level of human capital and a high level of social trust.
    To undertake this exercise, the Social Partnership should appoint a genuinely inclusive highlevel national task force with expert advisors, to be chaired by a minister.
    This team should be tasked with drawing up a blueprint of the purposes and functions of Government for 21st century Barbados, by what entities those functions should be carried out, and how these entities should be structured, without reference to existing governmental institutions, that is, designing from scratch.
    Some basic principles should apply.
    The state’s role is to uphold law and order, protect human rights, ensure sustainable and equitable economic development, and promote social and environmental justice and the common good.
    Accountability and transparency are fundamental to good governance, at the bureaucratic and political levels.
    The state should not undertake any activity that might be more efficiently undertaken by a private sector entity under Government guidance.
    Ministries and their regulatory agencies should be primarily policymaking bodies with strong research and analytical capabilities, engaged in policy formulation, supervision and regulation, thus leaving the actual implementing activities as far as is possible or consistent with financial probity to non-governmental entities.
    All public entities should have productivity standards, digital technology, accountability and transparency designed into their structures, and provide a rewarding work environment.
    All regulatory agencies should be set up to produce the necessary permissions in the shortest possible time with the greatest degree of transparency and civic politeness.
    Once a blueprint is drawn up, say after six weeks, wide consultation should take place. This process might take three months.
    A revised blueprint should then be submitted to the Cabinet for approval, and afterwards to Parliament.
    A special committee, cochaired by the Head of the Civil Service and a trade union representative, with University of the West Indies management experts and other advisors, should then be appointed by the Cabinet to work out a detailed plan of how to move from the present situation to the one proposed over a six-year period, including shedding in a phased and humane manner the redundant jobs, with time frames, costs and resources identified.
    This should take 12 weeks. Then would follow any legislation that is necessary.
    How would we avoid mandatory lay-offs? Mainly through voluntary retirement schemes by which staff in designated grades could leave the civil service with immediate retirement benefits and compensation, by redeployment of administrative personnel within the public service, recruitment freezes, and through close cooperation with private sector entities that could absorb certain categories of workers. This transfer, incidentally, should raise the level of national productivity.
    Of course, both piecemeal and wholesale reform can take place simultaneously.
    We might also use the opportunity of instituting a universal basic income that replaces all existing social welfare programmes (health and education are rights, not welfare).
    I’m sure that the international financial institutions would support such an exercise.
    Peter Laurie is a former head of the Barbados Foreign Service and author of several books.


    Source: Nation

  36. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cg7XLAMFcXP/

  37. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/government-response-to-ag-2022.pdf

  38. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    Has Peter Laurie taken to writing comedy now?
    His ‘Elephant’ is not being ignored, It is just not solvable by the incompetents who have been charged with the responsibility to resolve it.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “Once a blueprint is drawn up, say after six weeks, wide consultation should take place. This process might take three months.
    A revised blueprint should then be submitted to the Cabinet for approval, and afterwards to Parliament.
    A special committee, cochaired by the Head of the Civil Service and a trade union representative, with University of the West Indies management experts and other advisors, should then be appointed by the Cabinet to work out a detailed plan of how to move from the present situation to the one proposed over a six-year period, including shedding in a phased and humane manner the redundant jobs, with time frames, costs and resources identified.
    This should take 12 weeks. Then would follow any legislation that is necessary.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    LOL …and he is REAL funny too…

    “A blueprint after SIX weeks”? … NOT ’bout hey- UNLESS he copies BU’s 10-point plan?

    “A Special Committee”? – three years MINIMUM, and no meaningful outcome..like the Constitution thing.

    “A UWI management expert”? – Oxymoron! …is Wendell McClean not deceased?

    “12 weeks to come up with details for shedding in a phased and humane manner?
    ….shiite, we have been trying to sort out the poor nurses now for 10 years…

    But the best part is…
    “Then would follow any legislation that is necessary”…??!!
    Yea, but WHEN??!! … and when it DOES come, will it be FLAWED like 90% of ALL legislation mutilated in the last 30 years?

    Besides which, NOT ONE CHANGE IS LEGALLY POSSIBLE before the legislation is enacted. So this approach is dead in the water.

    Peter is EXACTLY right about the PROBLEM. His proposed ‘solution’ however is UNWORKABLE, but is very typical of the ‘initiatives’ that come from WITHIN the flawed system.

  39. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    He is saying the right things as a retired public servant, however implementation is always the problem.

  40. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    Bushie knows PLENTY senior public servants, and they mostly agree with Peter about the problem.

    However…
    Successful implementation is ONLY possible if a VIABLE plan is FIRST established.
    THIS is where we have ALWAYS failed.

    The weakness outlined by Bushie is not even the implementation, but the FLAWED (but impressive sounding) PLAN.
    When we START WRONG, the ending is predictable.

  41. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “A UWI management expert”? – Oxymoron! …is Wendell McClean not deceased?”

    Bushie

    Wasn’t Wendell McClean an “ECONOMIST,(whatever the hell that is)?”

    🤣 😂

    As unions would ‘say,’…… “LOL……oh shirt.” 😃

  42. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    ****** as YOU would say……

  43. Bush tea Avatar
    Bush tea

    Artax…
    Touché …

    Yuh got Bushie there!!!

  44. David Avatar
    David

    Congratulations to the Nation for giving focus to this matter.

    Four Seasons owner: It was part of the deal
    By Maria Bradshaw mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    Blue Development Ltd, the company which bought the now controversial Four Seasons project in 2016 from Government for $60 million, without paying a cent, has told the court it was part of the agreement made.
    In an affidavit which was not contradicted according to the judge, Blue Development outlined that it purchased the Paradise Beach, St Michael property after submitting a proposal to the last Democratic Labour Party administration which allowed the company to market the beach front property to investors, for the purposes of developing a luxury hotel and private residential development.
    Idle property
    Recently the property, which has been lying idle for years, becoming a trending topic again after the Auditor General in his 2021 report, stated that while a review of the records at the Land Registry Department indicated the Four Seasons Project property was conveyed to a private company, “there is no evidence of consideration being paid”.
    He had also questioned Government’s decision to write off the $120 million it had guaranteed in the project.
    Apart from seeking out investors, Blue Development also told the court it was to have “exclusive rights” to build the hotel, once the investor was accepted.
    The company noted that after Government advertised a Request For Proposals in relation to Four Seasons, Blue Development submitted three proposals and was invited by Government to discuss the third, which involved seeking out an investor.
    “The claimant invited me to meetings to discuss the third proposal that I submitted and to negotiate an agreement,” the chairman of Blue Development said in an affidavit to the court.
    “These negotiations took place over several months and involved discussions on various aspects of the proposed development, and what would be required in order to attract the correct brand and developer to complete the project.
    “These discussions involved not only how the legal structure was to be organised,
    but would also include matters such as the grant of Government concessions for the project as well as permissions from the Central Bank relative to the development and other related matters, all of which were at the defendant’s request subsequently granted by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Barbados.”
    Pointing out that officials from Blue Development had “travelled the world meeting with major five-star hotel brands”, Blue Development stated it was agreed it would have exclusive rights to build the hotel to compensate for all of the groundwork undertaken.
    “One of the main purposes of the defendant company entering into the transactions as described above and entering into the agreement with the claimant was that once it had found a suitable investor for the completion of the Four Seasons development, that it would negotiate with that investor . . . so as to compensate it for the considerable time and expense incurred . . . . A contract exclusively with a contracting company also owned by (Blue Development) for the construction and completion of the Four Seasons Development.”
    The company, which was incorporated in 2016, submitted to the court that it was supposed to (i) sell the property to an investor or (ii) the company will be sold to an investor, or the investor would subscribe for shares.
    The company was to grant to Clearwater (the Government company) a debenture over all of the assets of the company, including the property in the maximum sum of BDS$58 million and a deed of charge by way of second legal mortgage over the lands.
    Investor search
    In court documents, Blue Development stated: “The defendant was given the mandate to find a suitable investor to complete the Four Seasons development. There was never any intention of the claimant (Government) enforcing the securities against the defendant, in that the intention and agreement between the claimant and the defendant was that the investor, once found, would in essence ‘step in the shoes’ of the defendant by either purchasing the lands and paying the claimant the outstanding purchase price; or by selling the shares of the defendant to the investor; or by the investor subscribing
    for shares in the defendant.”
    Condition
    The company added: “The claimant would, on finding an investor who completed any of the options set out above, release the defendant from all obligations under the debenture.”
    It further pointed out that the principal debt which was secured by mortgage was to be repaid by the transfer of BDS$40 million within two weeks of completion of a transfer; BDS$10 million upon commencement of the construction of the hotel; and BDS$10 million upon receipt of planning compliance for the hotel.
    Blue Development further charged that it was agreed “Government would not take any action to enforce its rights under Debenture A or Mortgage B as long as the company was in discussions with an investor in respect of a transfer”.
    The company told the court it had provided details about travels abroad to find a suitable investor at the business’ expense and that it was indeed successful in finding an investor.
    Blue Development pointed out that Government was now in discussion with the investor but had excluded it entirely from those talks.
    Blue Development added that the failure of Government to register the securities for over four years was not accidental or an oversight on its part, “but was in keeping with the parties’ agreement, either not to register or enforce the same”.

    Source: Nation

  45. David Avatar
    David

    TIME LINE OF EVENTS

    • In 2011 Ansa Merchant Bank (‘Ansa’) agreed to pay out the Royal Bank of Scotland and through its subsidiary, Consolidated Finance Co. Ltd, loaned US$60 million for the recommencement of the Four Seasons Project (the “2011 Consol loan”). A term of the 2011 Consol loan was that the Government was to provide a guarantee. This was done through Clearwater Bay Ltd. (a company wholly owned by the Government).
    •In 2016 Consolidated Finance called upon the guarantee and the Government advanced the sum of BDS$124 million to Clearwater Bay, to settle the guarantee in respect of the Four Seasons Project. While Consolidated Finance transferred all of its rights under its 2011 debenture to Clearwater Bay Ltd, Clearwater Bay Ltd purported to represent itself as mortgagee in 2014 and joined in two conveyances dated December 29, 2014, as mortgagee, when Paradise 88 Ltd, the registered owner of the Four Seasons property, sold those properties to a company called Pharliciple Inc. for the total sum
    of USD$59 650 000.
    Of note, Consolidated Finance was not party to those two conveyances, notwithstanding it was the only mortgagee of the Four Seasons property in 2014. These conveyances were recorded at the Land Registry. Clearwater Bay was a party to these conveyances as mortgagee. The purchase money, which would ordinarily be paid to a mortgagee to clear off monies owed it, was never paid to Clearwater Bay Ltd.
    •In 2016, after Consolidated Finance assigned all of its security to Clearwater Bay Ltd (thereby making Clearwater Bay for the first time the mortgagee of the Four Seasons property), Clearwater Bay Ltd, as mortgagee, acting under its power of sale, sold the Four Seasons property to a company called Blue Development Ltd for US$59 000 000. No money was passed; instead, Blue Development Ltd (another company with the same directors as Pharliciple) gave Clearwater Bay Ltd a debenture in the amount of BDS$58 000 000 and (b) a charge by way of legal mortgage in the amount of BDS$60 000 000 (the securities).
    Simultaneously with that conveyance, Clearwater Bay Ltd. and Blue Development Ltd. entered into an additional agreement whereby Clearwater Bay Ltd agreed with Blue Development Ltd. that for so long as Blue Development was in discussion with investors to complete the Four Seasons development, Clearwater Bay Ltd would take no steps to enforce the securities.
    •As at the writing of this article, neither the deed of conveyance to Blue Development Ltd, not the debenture, nor the mortgage which it granted to Clearwater Bay Ltd, were filed in the Land Registry or Companies Registry in the case of the debenture. Indeed, given that the Four Seasons property was in 2014 transferred to Pharliciple Inc., Clearwater Bay Ltd is, by the transfer to Blue Development Ltd, holding security documents that have not been “perfected” and cannot be enforced.
    While the shareholding of Pharliciple Inc and Blue Development Ltd are unknown, they at all material times had common directors.

    Source: Nation

  46. David Avatar
    David

    RUMBLINGS IN PARADISE
    Govt after $118m from Four Seasons project
    By Maria Bradshaw
    mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    Government appears to have a fight on its hands following its attempt to finally register the mortgage associated with the idle Four Seasons project at Paradise Beach, Black Rock, St Michael, five years after it was sold to a local business which was not required to pay the $60 million sales price up front.
    Back in 2016, Clearwater Bay (a company wholly owned by Government) entered into an agreement to sell the unfinished resort to Blue Development Ltd. While the purchase price was not paid, it was agreed that the debenture and mortgage charging the Paradise Lands would be executed to secure payment.
    However, Government failed to lodge the debenture and the mortgage within the 28 days’ requirement of their creation, while the deed of charge was also undated, when it was executed.
    Last year Government was forced to go to court, five years after the sale, with an urgent application to register the two charges out of time.
    According to court documents, last August High Court judge, Justice William Chandler, granted an order allowing Government to register.
    The judgement stated: “The period for the registration of the undated debenture made between Blue Development and Government charging Lots A and B Paradise lands to secure the sum of BDS$58 000 000 is extended to 30 days from the date of this order, and that the period for the registration of the undated mortgage made between the parties charging firstly 47 659 square metres of land and secondly 957 square metres of land situated at Paradise Beach, Black Rock, St Michael, is extended to 30 days from the date of this order.”
    Without prejudice
    The judge also wrote: “These orders are made without prejudice to any rights acquired prior to actual registration against the person entitled to the debenture, mortgage or charge.”
    However, Blue Development has filed an appeal against the decision made by the judge, charging, among other things, that the the ruling, “particularly the exercise of his discretion to permit registration of the securities out of time was, given the inordinate delay and the circumstances and undisputed facts particularly relative to the agreement between the Government and Blue Development and rights conferred thereunder to Blue Development, was plainly wrong in law in all the circumstances and manifestly unjust.
    “That the judge’s decision was wrong because he failed to take into account the failure of Government to make full and sufficient disclosure of all material facts; that the judge’s exercise of his discretion in reaching his decision was based on a misapplication of both the law particularly as it relates to the exercise of the court’s equitable jurisdiction under Section 248 (c) of the Companies Act, and the evidence before him.”
    Blue Development has asked for a stay of execution until the appeal is decided.
    When contacted, Attorney General Dale Marshall told the Sunday Sun the security could only be enforced after they had been perfected “and that is what is before the courts”.
    He added that Government “intends to recover all monies that are due to it”.
    When asked what was the reason behind transferring the property to Blue Development, Marshall stated: “You would have to ask Chris Sinckler (former Minister of Finance).”
    Questioned further, he said Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who was one of the attorneys for Paradise Hotel, was not involved in the drafting of the debenture and the mortgage.
    When contacted, Queen’s Counsel Barry Gale, who is representing Blue Development, said he had no comment to make at this time since the matter was “subjudice”.
    Government is hoping the law courts will help it recover $118 million related to the failed Four Seasons Project, but says its hands are currently tied regarding future development at the Paradise Beach, St Michael site.
    The Ministry of Finance, in a report laid in Parliament in response to concerns raised by the Auditor General, said Government and other parties were scheduled to be back in court in November for the continued adjudication of the Four Seasons project issue.
    The report explained that in 2016 Government entity Clearwater Bay Ltd., as holder of the security over of the Four Seasons properties, sold the Four Seasons properties to a company called Blue Development Ltd. for $118 million but that no purchase price was paid.
    Common directors
    “The purchase price was secured to Clearwater Bay, Ltd by: a) A debenture in the amount of $58 million; and b) A deed of charge by way of legal mortgage in the amount of $60 million. Blue Development Inc. and Pharliciple Inc. had common directors but their shareholding is unknown,” the Ministry of Finance informed Parliament in its report.
    “There was an additional agreement entered into at the same time between Clearwater Bay Ltd. and Blue Development Ltd., that for so long as Blue Development Ltd. was in discussion with an investor, that Clearwater Bay Ltd. would take no steps to enforce the securities.”
    The ministry said the deeds “remain undated to this day and neither the deed of conveyance, the debenture nor the mortgage were ever filed in the Land Registry or Companies Registry in the case of the debenture”.
    It explained that “the effect of this is that Clearwater Bay Ltd. is holding security documents that have not been ‘perfected’ and that cannot be enforced”.
    Taken to court
    Government has taken the matter to court so that the securities could be “perfected”, the ministry said.
    It also noted that “only after this course of litigation is settled and the securities held by Clearwater Bay Ltd. ‘perfected’, would Clearwater Bay Ltd. be able to enforce its security over the Four Seasons properties and recover the amount due, which is $118 million.
    “The efforts by Clearwater Bay Ltd. to enforce the security are continuing but given the uncertainty of both the outcome of court proceedings and the timelines for the exhaustion of any legal challenges by Blue Development Ltd., it is difficult to estimate when a new sale of the properties can be accomplished,” the report to Parliament stated.
    “While this is taking place, it is prudent to let the country know that there are credible investors who are keen to purchase and develop the property. However, Government’s hands remain tied.” (SC)

    Source: Nation

  47. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    The Government response has ‘promise’, and certain bodies, like the Accountant General have much on their plate.
    Of news to me, was “following the debt restructuring exercise in 2018, the Local Loans Act was amended to remove the 2% sinking fund requirement in respect of the restructured Series Bonds. The sinking funds were then transferred to the Consolidated Fund…”
    This was yet another step to aid in the cash crunch, and gave the GoB cash.
    It also means there is no provision to periodically set aside money (sinking fund) for repayment of the ‘restructured Series Bonds’.

  48. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    The CBL debacle seems full of conflicting information.
    Even to the point of identifying the purchaser of the land; one party refers to them as a “contractor”; another as a “hotelier”, and the numbers and circumstances provided by AP in his FB post also appears to conflict with the explanation given in the reply to the Aud Gen.
    All seems to rest with the pending decision by the court.

  49. Government Jettisoned Sinking Fund Arrangement for 2018 Restructured Bonds | Barbados Underground

    […] quoted comment was posted to the blog From Private to Public – Cinnamon 88 to CLEARWATER BAY, a concern for taxpayers. It is a nugget of information – see blogmaster’s highlighted text – that has not […]

  50. 2022 Auditor General released – Barbados Underground

    […] 32). By the way, are we happy with Struaghn’s explanation to what happened with Four Seasons/Clearwater Bay […]

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading