Tourism Minister: Sandals still on

TOURISM Minister Randall Mitchell yesterday put an end to speculation that the Government has chucked in the towel on its proposal to build a 700-room hotel under the brand of Sandals Resorts International in Tobago.

Speculation of a halt in plans for Sandals arose in the minds of some viewers of the Prime Minister’s televised national address on Sunday night titled “Mind Your Business” when he seemed to cast a cloud over a tourism project for Tobago.

He said,“I’m expecting we would have chased away what would have been good for us.” Listing several Caribbean nations with Sandals hotels, he scoffed, “Tobago is the only place in the Caribbean we hear a Sandals project would bring leprosy.” He blamed opposition to the projects on individuals seeking to advance their political careers. Rowley also suggested the Government could allocate $1 billion towards the project, plus $1 billion to upgrade Tobago’s airport.

Yesterday, Mitchell told Newsday the project is still on. Asked if it had been scotched he said “no” and asked if it was still on he replied, “absolutely.”