PM, Young both insist no secrecy with Sandals

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.

BOTH Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Communications Minister Stuart Young have reiterated there is no secrecy in discussions between Government and Sandals Resort International for the construction of a Sandals resort in Tobago.

Addressing the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre on Thursday, Young promised that once commercial agreements and a management agreement are reached between government and Sandals, "both sides are prepared to disclose what terms and conditions can be disclosed."

Young reiterated, "All we have at this time is an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding). We have been having sensitive discussions with them (Sandals) to persuade them to move to the next stage which is the negotiation of commercial agreements and a management agreement."

Young said government has retained the services of international law firm White and Case to negotiate these agreements and he is optimistic these negotiations can be concluded within the next month.

Dr Rowley said, "We have no information to hide. We are generating information and as we generate it, we make it available to the public." He reminded reporters that as opposition leader, he invited Sandals to look at TT and specifically Tobago as a location for their brand.

Saying hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to advertise Tobago with no success, Rowley said the Tobago Chamber is now demanding Government spend $120 million to market Tobago, with no guarantee for success.

But the PM said once Tobago has a Sandals resort, it will be marketed internationally by Sandals as a tourism destination. Rowley also said Tobago will benefit from the airlift capacity which Sandals brings.

Saying he continues to see himself as the country's number one salesman, Rowley slammed opponents of the Sandals project. He said half of them were mischievous and the other half had no idea how public business is conducted.

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"PM, Young both insist no secrecy with Sandals"

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