St. George’s, August 29, 2010 (GIS) – Grenada will know shortly whether a US100 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China would be made available for the proposed Four Seasons’ project in the south of the island.
Finance Minister, Hon. Nazim Burke, anticipates a decision from Eximbank within a month or two. The Minister, speaking at a news conference on August 27, described the project as “viable.’’
“We’re satisfied that, on the basis of the terms and conditions that are being offered, it is a viable project,’’ said the Finance Minister, who at the time was also Acting Prime Minister.
He said all documentation has been submitted to Eximbank, which is evaluating the loan application.
Mr. Burke, also Deputy Leader of the NDC, was joined at the news conference by Sen. Glen Noel, Junior Housing Minister and Chairman of the National Democratic Congress; and by former government IT Coordinator Vincent Roberts, Public Relations Officer of the NDC.
Hon. Burke reiterated government’s commitment to the due diligence process and in seeking the best interest of Grenada in all development projects and negotiations with investors.
He reported that discussions are “proceeding quite well’’ in finding a resolution to the Grand Beach land and hotel issue.
“I will not get into any details here but it is quite possible that before very long, we can see some resolution of this issue,’’ Mr. Burke said.
“We will engage the parties to see whether we can get that hotel working in an improved condition and to see whether government can once again become the title holders to the property.’’
In 1997, the former administration granted businessman, Issa Nicholas, a 99-year lease to the 20 acres on which Grand Beach situated. The plan was for him to operate a hotel of international standard.
An arrangement for the transfer of the government-owned land was later made with Formula One driving star, Lewis Hamilton, who was to engage Mr. Nicholas in negotiations and start building the hotel.
Indications are that talks between the Hamilton and Nicholas negotiators broke down, with the title to the land transferred to Mr. Hamilton by the outgoing administration on July 7, 2008 – one day before the last general election.
In order for the land to be returned to the state, government potentially would have to pay millions of dollars.
“The New National Party transferred the ownership out of the people of Grenada, without getting a cent in return,’’ Finance Minister Burke said. “The National Democratic Congress government could have done nothing to prevent that. We were not responsible for it and we are trying to correct that situation.’’
On another project development matter, Mr. Burke said that a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with SeWang One World Investment, a business group that includes Taiwanese and Korean representatives.
The company proposes spending as much as US$2 billion on airports, schools, hospitals, agriculture and other projects throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Officials of the company visited Grenada in May and met with members of government and the private sector.
At the request of the company, a second meeting was held recently in Taiwan, at which Grenada was represented by Mr. Roberts and Christopher De Riggs, Head of Private Sector Development in the Ministry of Finance.
An initial partnership agreement from SeWang One World Investment has been drafted. But it has not been signed by government, said Mr. Burke.
“We’re interested in doing business but we’re unable to sign that agreement in its existing form. So we would want to see changes made to that,’’ he said.
“We have drafted an alternative agreement and we have shared that alternative with the company involved. The visit, the draft agreement and all of these discussions have taken place within the last week.’’
Mr. Burke added: “We believe that if there is an opportunity there, we want to grab it. But we also have a responsibility to ensure that we know who we’re doing business with. So this is not an overnight process.’’
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