THA Chief Secretary willing to meet Marriott developers

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine says he is willing to meet with the developers of the $500 million first-class hotel and property development which bears the Marriott brand and is earmarked for Tobago.

In September, Evolving Tecknologies and Enterprise Development Company Ltd (eTeck) chairman Imtiaz Ahamad, at a news conference, announced construction is scheduled to begin in 2023. The estimated completion date, he said, is 2025.

Speaking with Newsday, Augustine said: “The first thing we want to do is to invite the people doing the Marriott hotel to come and make a presentation to the executive.”

He said the people of Tobago have no details of the project.

“Tobago just doesn’t know what the project entails – we are in Tobago hearing a minister from Trinidad, businessmen from Trinidad, saying, 'We’re coming to build a hotel here,' and we don’t know.”

He feels Tobago should be involved in the discussions.

“We should be part and parcel of the arrangement, and that is the first thing we’re asking for. We should have the opportunity to look at it and guide the process along and even determine who gets the land.

"The land has already been given out, a lease has already been signed, there is already a project being planned – we would like to know the details of the project so at least we would be able to steer them in the right direction, be able to say to them, 'Okay, this can work, this cannot work,' and so that things can be moved around accordingly.”

At the news conference, Ahamad said the proposed development, which is being undertaken by Superior Hotels Trinidad & Tobago Ltd, will be built at Rocky Point on approximately 28 acres of land on the western side of Grafton Road and south of Pleasant Prospect.

He said the project is expected to provide jobs for 750 people during construction.

The development, he said comprises a 200-room hotel, 28 duplex residences, 11 single-family luxury villas and 12 fully outfitted townhouses. It will also include facilities for scuba diving, jogging, cycling and the sale of local food and craft.

Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke, who is now Deputy Chief Secretary, in September described the proposed project as an election gimmick before the December 6 THA elections.

“They are becoming desperate and this whole idea of a $500 million Marriott hotel somewhere in Tobago is highly questionable,” he told Newsday then.

He accused the PNM of not caring about Tobago’s tourism sector.

Duke said the PNM has made similar announcements before previous elections.

“Just on the heels of the 2021 election, they would have gone to Roxborough and again turned the sod for some 200-bedroom hotel right on the beachfront between two rivers.

“They did that to create the impression that they are doing something. But if you go to Roxborough today, nothing like a hotel is there. Not even a sign about any hotel is there. The place is pure bush for agouti and lappe and wild hog to run through.”

He was referring to the $350 million Argyle Falls resort and townhouses, which Government said are expected to be completed in 2023.

The sod-turning ceremony happened just days before the THA election in January, which ended in a six-six tie between the PNM and PDP.