Submitted by Bajan
Mr. Duguid, the Democratic Labour Paty (DLP) borrowed $340 million from China EXIM Bank (EXPORT IMPORT BANK OF CHINA) to rehabilitate Sam Lords Castle. It was promised that the 420 room property would provide 1000 permenant jobs. Have those jobs been realized or the $140 million yearly earning in foreign currency?
Mr Duguid, your reasoning defies logic in the Sunday Sun (see article below). Why would government in the first place bulid a hotel in the first place? What is the spread between the capital cost and the potential selling price? The country also needs to know who is the buyer, for the transaction has to be totally transparent. Politicians if given the opportunity would set up their friends to buy government properties. Are there finders fees involved?
Mr Duguid the asinine statements “a government can borrow money, raise money, a government cannot print money. So its in tbe best interest of government to build facilities that provide employtment, put it in the private sector and then do it again and do it in the private sector again. Thats in the best interest of the country.“
Mr. Duguid, from now I wish to bestow on you the name of Rt Honourable ‘Dumb’ Duguid. You have forgotten governments also squanders and swindles tax payers. What was the total cost of the Wyndham Hotel Dumb Duguid.
Oh by the way who will get the finders fees for the emergency steel frame houses?
WYNDHAM FOR SALE
Government in talks with potential buyer, says Duguid
By Maria Bradshaw
Two years after the reopening of the historic Sam Lord’s Castle hotel in St Philip, under the Wyndham Hotels brand, Government is seeking to divest the property.
Sources told the Sunday Sun that a Cabinet decision on its sale had already been approved.
When contacted, Dr William Duguid, senior minister in charge of infrastructural projects, confirmed the development, stating they were also in negotiations with a prospective buyer.
Pressed further, he said: “We are in discussions with persons who have an interest in purchasing the property. I would not want to say anything more to prejudice those discussions.”
The 420-room Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle Resort & Spa, was officially opened in 2024, about eight years after construction began. Before that, the famous hotel was abandoned for several years and razed by fire in 2010.
It’s rehabilitation started under the Democratic Labour Party Government with a US$170 million loan from China Exim Bank. Then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart signed the loan agreement.
At a ground-breaking ceremony for the project, Stuart said the hotel would employ more than 1 000 people after completion and it was also expected to generate about 2 000 additional jobs in other sectors of the economy. He added that foreign exchange earnings to be made by the property were estimated at over US$70 million a year, with a direct contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of US$35 million.
There is no indication if these projections have been fulfilled.
Asked why Government had decided to sell the property, now the only Government-owned hotel, Duguid said it made economic sense to do so.
“Governments build assets to get people employed and to bring economic activity. That is a smart thing to do. If the only person that could build an asset is absorbing the financial ability of Government, it makes sense for Government to build an asset, make it viable. Remember, employment is what it will bring and economic activity. Then you sell it and you take the revenue. What do you do? Build another one . . . . And then sell that again. Get the economic activity, get the employment. I’ve said this to Parliament.”
He added: “Remember, a government can borrow money, raise money; a government cannot print money. So it’s in the best interest of Government to build facilities that provide employment, put it in the private sector and then do it again and do it in the private sector again. That’s in the best interest of the people of the country.”
When asked about the construction of the US$180 million trade centre at Jemmotts Lane, The City, by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on lands gifted by the Government, Duguid said he did not know when the actual construction would begin.
“All I can say is that they will start as quickly as they can but you can never answer how or when a private person is going to start work.”
Asked if plans were submitted for the property, he said: “They’re still in the process of going through what we call detailed plans.”
He added: “That doesn’t stop work from starting in terms of demolition and all of that.”
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